A League Beyond Legends
by Aros001
Summary: Years after the events of Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi, the Girls and other heroes have been selected to join the legendary Justice League. And their membership comes not a moment too soon, as a new evil arrives to threaten Earth. One more powerful than any they've faced before, yet still strangely familiar both to the girls and the League. Based on SNAFU comics' PPGD and Grim Tales.
1. Welcome to the Justice League

**A League Beyond Legends**

 **Part 1: Welcome to the Justice League**

* * *

 **Chapter Start**

 **…Three weeks ago…**

 _"So…" Superman said, addressing the rest of the table. "Who'd like to start?"_

… **Now…**

Metropolis. The city of tomorrow. A model of technological and economic development for the rest of the world to follow.

Proof that nothing is ever without its share of problems, as the doors to the downtown section of S.T.A.R Labs blew open with a fiery explosion, scattering bits of metal and soot along the street as passerby's quickly made themselves scarce.

"I could have simply re-opened the doors." The orange-clad villain known as The Key pointed out as he and his fellow criminals exited the building.

"Where's the fun in that?" Volcana smirked, her hands still a slightly red glow after causing the explosion. "Besides, it's not like they didn't already know we were in there." She said, commenting on the approaching sound of police sirens.

The man right behind them gave an annoyed sigh and pushed himself past them as the cop car came into view. "See, this is why I hate working with non-Rogues." Captain Cold said as he pointed his gun forward. A vortex of cold energy blasted out from its barrel and striking the cars in the distance, large chunks of ice building up with each second of contact with the beam. Cold aimed and sprayed his signature weapon across the open street, forming a think wall of ice from one building to another, blocking the street. Any cars that'd managed to get past where the wall was before it fully formed simply sat stalled on the road, the police inside unable to get out due to the tremendous ice surrounding the entirety of the car's exterior. "No professionalism." Cold said simply once he'd finished his attack and held his gun back up.

A shot rang out and the Captain soon found himself wide-eyed as sitting inches before his blue visor as a single small bullet, rotating in place in the air.

"Hey, Mr. Professional…" The metallically clad Doctor Polaris called from behind, his gloved hand raised in the air and glowing with a shifting blue energy, clearly showing he was the one controlling the bullet. Raising his hand higher the midair bullet followed its direction and with it the group of villains could now see the heavily armored S.W.A.T officers being lifted from the rooftops across the street by the same power. As the officers flailed and struggled as the hung in the air, their weapons being unable to fire as Polaris would not allow the triggers to be pulled, they soon found themselves joined by five or six of the police cars, both from behind the ice wall and those frozen before it. Polaris's hand clenched slightly little by little as the officers felt their belts and armor start to constrict around them and cut off their breaths. And with a solid swipe downwards with his palm, the doctor sent them all crashing down into the down below, the cars making loudest sounds as they struck to hard streets. "…You missed a few." He finished with a serious but just slightly smug tone in his voice.

Captain Cold blinked in stunned silence for a moment, very well aware of how close he'd nearly come to his end. Though having to be saved by someone as arrogant and pompous as Doctor Polaris left something of a bad taste in his mouth, an emotion he conveyed quite well as he glared sharply at the other villain.

"Doctor Polaris." Said a deep voice from behind the two, bringing both of them, as well as the rest of the group to attention.

From the doorway of S.T.A.R Labs emerged two women. The first of which was the most notable, being a literal giant of a woman, having to practically crawl out of the doorway in order to get outside, carrying a computer console about the size of an armored car under her arm. The second was the far more normal looking of the entire group, being a dark-haired Asian woman in a black trench coat and a red wrap-around shirt. In one hand she held a large red jewel, nearly as large as her head, and in the other she held a white and very round cat, which she cradled very gently in her arm.

"While I'm sure Mr. Snart is quite glad to not have his grey matter staining the back of his hood, yours and Giganta's purpose in this endeavor is for heavy lifting, not pointless boasting."

The most interesting thing that one could notice, had any pedestrians been foolish enough to stuck around after the doors blew off, was that the voice did not come for either of the two women, but rather from the cat.

Polaris gave the cat a small look of contempt but pushed it aside, raising his hand up to command the many various machines out of the building to float above them. "Probably would be a bit faster if more people pitched in with this." He commented, his eyes gesturing at Key, Volcana, and Cold before looking back at the woman carrying the villainous White Kitty.

"They already have their jobs." The feline replied pointedly. "And Shiva is…more here to act as a secret weapon than something I intend to use." He added, though with a bit more care and caution in his words than he used with the others.

"Doubt that secret weapon of yours is going to be of much use when HE gets here." Giganta commented as she towered over the others.

"Do not take me for a fool, Giganta." White Kitty warned evenly. "I planned this heist perfectly down to the last letter. Superman is off dealing with a crisis in Japan. By the time he's finished we'll be long gone with our prizes."

"Assuming our ride gets here soon." Volcana pointed out.

"He'll be here. Just focus on taking care of any police or special forces whom attempt to stop us before then." He reminded them, pointing his paw towards the rooftops.

Following his orders, Volcana, Key, and Captain Cold stood nearly back to back with each other as they watched the streets and buildings from their respective points of view, each being capable of long-ranged assaults, thus why the cat had brought them along. And while they did that, White Kitty gleefully fawned over his ill-gotten gains.

"Ah, how I missed the feeling of the Cat's Eye Jewel between my paws." He said delightfully as he took the gem from Shiva's over arm and held it close to his soft, furry stomach. "I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever see it again. When that festering ape Grodd made the scene the humans were quick to hide it away, fearing he might attempt a similar scheme as I once attempted. But once Luthor shot the brute off into space they thought that now it might be safe enough to study, perhaps use it find a more permanent way of overcoming hypnotic trances. They may have succeeded too…had I not been waiting all these years for the jewel to finally resurface! Now, with the Cat's Eye Jewel back in my possession, I can rebuild my Hypnotic Modulator and finally put cat-kind as the rightful rulers of this planet! With me! White Kitty! As its one true rule-Where did the gem go?" He quickly said as the jewel suddenly vanished from his grasp, not even the blink of an eye to separate when it was there and when it was not.

"Monologuing? Really?" Said a voice that suddenly got the attention of the entire group. All heads turned to the street where, tossing the Cat's Eye Jewel up and down in his hand, was none other than the scarlet-clad speedster himself, The Flash. "See, I always thought you guys saved that stuff for when the heroes arrive, like you practiced it all night just for us. I'm actually starting to feel a little less important in this relationship now that I know the truth."

Cold gave a grit of his teeth, though it was more out of annoyance than any real anger. "Flash. I told you he'd somehow get mixed up in this. Always does whenever I try to do anything." He said to White Kitty.

"Indeed you did." The cat replied with a simple tone. "Kill him."

The words did not even have to finish leaving his mouth before the street lit up with freeze and energy blasts. Unfortunately, as quick on the draw as they were, the Flash was simply untouchable, sidestepping their attacks with ease and standing in place just long enough so that the villains could see each time that they'd missed him, a common bit of well-deserved cockiness from the hero.

With Volcana packing the most literal firepower Flash decided to focus on her first before she could cause any more damage to the street and, more importantly, any of the surrounding cops that Cold and Polaris had already seen to. Dodging past one of her molten bursts of flame, hot enough to melt clean through the pavement where it struck and go straight down to the sewers, Flash ran in circles around the orange haired woman, round and round until his speed created a mini vacuum in the small space around her. The flames that emanated from her hands found themselves quickly snuffed out as the oxygen that fueled them was taken away. As the villain felt her breath get shorter and shorter she panicked and attempted to transform the entirety of her body into flame as a way to fight back. However, the mere attempt at doing so burned away what little oxygen she had left and caused her immediately black out.

Flash caught the unconscious Volcana with his free arm just before she hit the ground. "Fire villains, am I right?" He quipped. "They never seem to see that trick com-WHOA!" Flash yelled as he leapt back, out of the way of the large steel girder Doctor Polaris sent crashing down at him, along with several long sticks of rebar, the evil doctor clearly not caring what could happen to his fellow teammate so long as he got Flash down with her.

"Hold on just a sec, hot stuff." Flash said as he ran and set Volcana down on the other end of the street before running back into the fray. He effortlessly ducked and weaved between the incoming energy blasts and bits of metal that continued to get sent his way, though unfortunately was not able to yet get close enough to take out any of the villains quite yet, as Captain Cold turned his freeze gun on the street, covering the entire surrounding area with smooth flat ice. Flash, having fought Cold enough times in the past to know how much friction and thus speed he'd lose if he attempted to run on Cold's ice, had no choice but to go around where the villains stood, running sideways across the building as he attempted to get close.

Doctor Polaris, in counter to this, used his ferrokinetic abilities to send all the nearby metal within S.T.A.R Labs through the front wall and form a barrier to block the Flash's path. It took him less than a second to clear his way past the sudden wall but as soon as he made his way over he found himself face-to-giant open hand with Giganta, now having used her powers to enlarge herself to nearly twice the size of the lab building. Dodging between her fingers (now about the size of his own body) Flash ran up the side of her arm, though that of course did not stop any of the others in the group from still firing at him.

"You know, with all the effort you guys went through to get this, you'd think you'd be a little more careful trying to get it back." Flash commented as he ran. "Unless of course this this is a lot more durable than it looks." He said, holding it up to his face. "In which case…" Using Giganta's arm as a ramp Flash went flying off the edge of the woman's shoulder. He proceeded to spin himself while in midair at great speed until he resembled a red tornado and launched the jewel from his hand like a discus.

With no time to react, the high speed projectile struck Polaris hard in the face, knocking him instantly back and down to the ground. As his face convulsed with pain, along with his nose being surely broken, his concentration broke and all the metal kept suspended in the air by his powers, including the many bits of pilfered technology, quickly came crashing down to the ground.

"No!" White Kitty cried out from Lady Shiva's arms as tech shattered upon contact with the ground, making all of it worthless to him now. All this was made even worse as the Flash simply sped past them as soon as he landed to grab the jewel again before any of them could.

"So glad that worked. Did not want to have to pay for shattering an ancient and priceless artifact…again." He said to himself. The Flash then turned to face the villains, spinning the jewel on his finger as he did so. "So…that's two down. Who's up for lucky number three?"

Flash quickly sidestepped as purple fire blast at him from behind. He cracked a smile and went fist first as he spun around to retaliate. However, his punch found itself connecting with nothing, though that isn't to say that there was nothing there. Or, in this case, no one.

Flash found the jewel suddenly taken from his hand as a completely white figure proceeded to walk directly through his body. Flash felt a coldness unlike any he'd ever known, completely different from any he'd felt in the past when dealing with Captain Cold or the like, before he was then shot in the back by the same purple flames he'd so easily avoided before.

Flash tumbled down the street for a bit due to the impact before he managed to stop himself. He managed to pick himself up well enough to get on his hands and knees, but taking such an unexpected attack at such a close range certainly left him a little worse for wear. Though now at least he was able to see what hit him.

"Ah. Our ride has finally arrived." White Kitty commented with a smile. "Flash, I do believe you know of our friend here, the Gentleman Ghost."

The white clad English phantasm with the invisible face gave a tip of his hat to the speedster before handing the jewel over to White Kitty. "Apologies for the delay but you have no idea how strict the Underworld has become lately. Took me forever to smuggle her out of Death's Domain without the queen's forces finding out about it." The ghost explained and snapped his fingers. A neigh was heard, followed by the rhythmic trot of hooves on cement and soon a skeletal horse emerged from the distance, pulling along a white carriage behind it. "Still, I'd say my arrival was well timed nonetheless."

"Indeed. Though if you'd arrived a tad sooner we might have managed to save more of our cargo." White Kitty pointed out, his gaze sifting in annoyance over to the many bits of broken technologies. "Oh well. The jewel is the only thing of any true importance. We have that so I suggest we make haste."

"What about Flash?" Captain Cold asked.

White Kitty thought it over for a minute. "Well…I suppose this is a rare opportunity. And there's no need to risk him somehow managing to chase us down… Finish him off, and be quick about it."

"With pleasure." Doctor Polaris snarled as he finally managed to get up, his nose still dripping with blood from the jewel striking him earlier. By his command the many bits of scattered metal around them floated upwards and began to mold a refine themselves until they formed sharpened points, each pointing at the Flash.

"I'll make sure he doesn't get out of your way, Doc." Captain Cold said with sinister smirk, pointing his gun at the hero.

He nearly even managed to pull the trigger.

Nearly.

Would have if his gun hadn't suddenly found itself yanked from his hand, along Key's key gun and all of the metal bits Polaris was commanding All yanked away by what appeared to be…electricity?

The weapons floated above them in almost a cloud of electricity, along with the man controlling it. He wore a long black and blue jacket with a yellow interior, along with a black undershirt with a golden lightning bolt in its center. He also wore a white mask with blue goggles around his face. Secret identity and all. And a cocky smile that could almost match the Flash's.

"Now, now. If you can't play nice with your toys, I'm going to have to take them away." Static remarked.

* * *

" _Virgil. Easily." Green Lantern said, being the first to speak. "Kid's more than proved himself over the years. Even pulled our butts out of the fire a few times."_

" _Will he have the time for us?" Wonder Woman asked. "He's already right in the middle of collage and working to protect his own city."_

" _Home life taking priority is something we've all dealt with before." He pointed out, giving a small nod of his head to Batman, whom sat across from him. "It's a completely understandable position. But be it full-time or part-time, Static's earned a place with us. I'd like to keep him up as a nomination."_

* * *

The metal that Static controlled wrapped itself around the guns, forming tight cocoon around them. He would have sent the buddle flying across the city to take the items out of the fight but Doctor Polaris raised his glowing blue hand to prevent it.

"You think you can match me in a battle of metal control, boy?" He challenged as their abilities fought over the ball of metal.

"Don't have to." Static smiled, looking behind Polaris. Polaris was about to question what the hero meant but was quick to find out, as he found a golden lasso suddenly fall over his head and constrict around his arms and waist.

"Wonder Woman!" Giganta yelled out in fear as she pointed to the sky, though not that she needed to, for who else could it have been? By the lasso's pull Polaris was sent flying back as the airborne Amazon spun him in the air, using his weight and her own great strength to strike Giganta across the face with his body, knocking the magnetic master out instantly whilst toppling the giant, her back crashing down onto the street with a thunderous boom that shook the city for several blocks.

"I don't want this battle to go the same as all our others have, Giganta." Wonder Woman warned as she floated over the tumbled giant, pulling her lasso back up to her hands from where Polaris's body laid unconscious. "Surrender now and I won't hurt you any further."

Giganta rubbed her aching head and for a moment even looked like she was considering the Amazon's offer of peace. But her true nature got the better of her and she lunged forward to attack. Wonder Woman's smaller size and far greater speed made it easy for her to avoid Giganta's initial swipe as she flew around her arm.

"Have it your way." She said, clenching her hand up into a fist before striking upwards at the villain's, her titanic strength knocking the giant's head back. This attack left her stunned and gave the Amazon the chance to do the same across her cheek, with the same, very painful success.

At the same time a single metal mace was thrown down from the sky, striking the ground before the ghostly carriage with enough tremendous force as to leave a small crater. The skeletal horse instantly went up on its hind legs, neighing loudly with the impact having greatly spooked the spectral creature. And as soon as its front hooves touched back down on the ground it took off like shot.

"No! Come back!" The Gentleman Ghost called after it in panic, though it was too far gone for his words to have any sway over the creature. He gritted his rotten teeth in anger (though not that anyone could tell) when a quick shadow suddenly flew over him.

Shayera Hol, the hero formerly known as Hawkgirl (a name which she has many good reasons for not wanting people to call her by anymore) touched down next to the Flash, her large wings kicking up dirt and dust as she landed.

"For the record, this is why we keep asking you to not just run ahead all the time." She said as she helped Flash up.

"Hey, come on. What's the point of being the fastest man alive if you never get the chance to call someone slowpoke?" Flash responded jestfully. "Speaking of which…" Flash darted from beside the hawk, landing a single punch each across the jaws of both Key and Cold. "Slowpoke." He called her, smiling with his arms folded as the two villains hit the ground.

Shayera stared at him for a moment but even in her annoyance at his usual antics she had to crack at least something of a smile. Taking the smile of his hard-to-impress friend as something of a personal victory, Flash ran off to collect the bodies of Volcana and Polaris so that Static could cling them to the street to make sure they couldn't get away went they wake up.

While he did that, Shayera heard the slight but familiar sound of metal scrapping across stone. "You really want to make this harder on yourself, Craddock?" She said, her steel gaze turning over to see the Gentleman Ghost, in the act of picking up her mace from where she'd thrown it down. The ghost pointed his cane at the hero, purple flame emanating at its tip. His voice had a touch of nervousness to it, though he did his best to suppress by reminding himself he had nothing to fear.

"Thanagarian Nth metal." He commented as he held his mace up in his other hand. "One of the few substances of the mortal world that can cause me harm. My horse was certainly right to fear facing its strike, though I don't believe you'll find it of much use to you if you don't actually have the weapon in your hands. And certainly not when you're a pile of spectral ash."

He then felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hm?" He said as he turned to see what it was.

And immediately found a white fist connecting with the center of his face. The moment of impact caused his outfit to turn from white to black and his rotting flesh to become visible just for a second before he returned to normal and fell to the ground.

"You know, maybe instead of a monocle you should have just worn glasses. Won't have been allowed to hit you then." Quipped the man who'd stuck him. His costume consisted of a significant amount of white, with lines stretching down his leggings to connect with his boots and along his arms to connect with his gloves, as well as sporting a long white cape a shade almost identical to his hair color. The vastness of this one color seemed to perfectly complement the green of his scouter shades and the black that made up his chest, with his own logo, a speeding D, slapped right in the center.

* * *

" _Flash…" Shayera said, addressing the speedster. "Are you sure about your nomination?"_

 _"What's the problem with him?" He asked honestly. "He brings a pretty good variety of powers to the table, some of which even we can't do. Plus, he's already saved the world once. Isn't that like an automatic registration for a group like us?"_

 _"I'm not denying he's done some pretty impressive things over the years. It's just…"_

 _"It's just the fact his identity is widely known to the public." Batman finished for her. "Not just in Amity Park but across the planet. There's a good chance that one of our enemies will try to hit him on a personal level just to gain access to the League."_

 _"Hey now, that's not fair." Flash argued. "Diana's identity is known just as widely and that's never caused us any problems."_

 _"Diana works as an ambassador between the governments of Earth and Themyscira." Martian Manhunter defended for her. "Hiding her true identity would hinder that process and likely cause more problems that it would prevent."_

 _"Having literal gods watching out for you tends not to hurt either. "Wonder Woman commented with a smile._

 _Superman then spoke up. "In defense of Flash's argument, most of the candidates we've all put forward have public identities. True, most of them are not as widely known outside of their own home cities, but I agree that's not fair to single out Danny when that's very well something that could happen to any of them."_

 _"And, given how well they've managed to work with the law without the need to hide behind a secret identity, that level of public trust is certainly something that could benefit the League." Wonder Woman pointed out._

 _Flash smiled proudly, happy to see most of other seven were warming up to the idea. "See? You're getting worried over nothing. Besides, I was younger than Danny was when we both started out and I turned out fine."_

 _That was when the rest of the table went a bit quiet and exchanged looks with each other._

 _"Oh, ha ha." Flash said sarcastically._

* * *

"I believe this is yours." Danny said as he held the mace out to Shayera, which the hawk gladly accepted, enjoying the familiar feeling of the cold metal in her palm once again.

"Nice pick-up there, kid." She complimented. "Last newbie I worked just kind of sat there waiting for me to do something, Craddock being one of my usual enemies and all."

"No problem. This one was more tailor-made for my powers anyway." Danny said, not wanting to get a swelled head around such a big hero. He then nearly gave a jump as Giganta's foot slammed down near them, the giant doing her best to keep herself from falling over from Wonder Woman's continuous assaults. "Uh…does she need any help?" Danny asked as he watched Diana's fist knock Giganta's massive head completely to one-side.

"Not usually." Shayera just said casually as her wings stretched out and she flew upwards.

"Oh. Um. Okay then." Said Danny, flying up after her, not quite knowing what else he should be doing in this case.

Meanwhile, just at the edge of where all the fighting as taking place, White Kitty held the Cat's Eye Jewel tightly in his paws as he fearfully watched his forces get taken apart one after another.

"Assassin! Get me out of here!" He yelled at Lady Shiva. By his command she gave a nod and leapt up the side of a nearby building, holding White Kitty by one-arm. The moment her feet touched the wall she bounced from it to the wall of its neighboring building, going back and forth between the two as she made her way upwards.

With one final backflip, Lady Shiva landed on top of the roof.

And found a single man standing in wait for her.

Among all the heroes and villains taking part in the fight this day, this man was the most normal looking of the bunch, wearing a simple karate gi and sandals. His most noticeable features were the single shoulder pad on his left arm and the katana kept sheathed at his waist. By the look of him it also seemed that he may be the oldest among his group of fellow heroes, certainly older than Static and Danny.

"I do apologize." The man said politely. "But I'm afraid that I cannot allow either of you to escape."

* * *

" _I'm still a bit worried." Wonder Woman said. "True these kids have been active for a while now but most of them have only just reached adulthood. It might be wise for us to consider reaching out to some with more experience. Some with even more than us."_

 _"Thus the reasoning behind your nomination." Batman asked._

 _Wonder Woman gave a nod. "Even among the Amazons we had stories of this man. A great warrior from a fallen kingdom who traveled the world, gaining the skills and strength necessary to vanquish a great evil. Aku was a being of darkness even the Gods feared and it was only through the efforts of this one man that his evil did not spread further."_

 _"At least that's what the history books say." Batman pointed out, remaining skeptical. "All we know, truly know, about this man is what thousand-year-old documents tell us and what he himself has claimed to have happened."_

 _"You may have a point there." Green Lantern said. "But then again it's been well over ten years since this Jack guy came to our time and all he's done in that time was become a schoolteacher. It doesn't seem like he's up to anything."_

 _"We've dealt with beings like Vandal Savage, Chronos, and Metron." Batman pointed out. "Beings whose plans stretch out for centuries because they either can afford to wait that long or because they know what will happen. Waiting ten years would mean nothing to men like them."_

 _"That is assuming Jack is a man like them." Wonder Woman retorted. "And that's what a lasso of truth and a watchful eye are for."_

* * *

Jack stood silently, arms out and legs spread in a fighting stance. Lady's Shiva's eyes dilated slightly as she recognized the stance as one of the many she'd learned over the years and knew the moves that would flow from it.

"We don't have time for this." White Kitty said with great irritation. "Kill him quickly before one of the heroes than can fly spot us!"

With speed that was almost inhuman, Shiva struck, her hand going straight for the warrior's throat. However, to her apparent surprise, he moved just as quickly, grabbing her arm and pulling her in further than she'd wanted, using his free hand in an attempt to strike her chest with his palm. Shiva countered this by quickly jumping up and throwing her knees above her head. Not only did this block Jack's attack but forced him to release her arm to defend himself or else be kicked hard enough in the face to break his neck.

Shiva's feet were caught by Jack's hands and he threw them before his face. She attempted to chop at his midsection with her free hand but Jack used his own knee to block it. With impressive strength for only being on one leg, Jack jumped up slightly to kick her in the waist. Using her legs to spring her backwards and out of Jack's grasp, Shiva avoided Jack's kick to just barely miss her.

Shiva rolled a few times in the air before she landed back on her feet, both her and Jack now standing exactly back where they'd started.

"Your initial attack…" Jack said calmly. "Had you managed to land it where you were aiming for on my throat, you would have instantly cut off my breath and forced me to choke. I then would have been helpless to whatever you would do next. With skill as great as yours, you likely would have succeeded, had you not been fighting with a handicap." He said, looking at the cat in her arm.

Shiva did not take her eyes off of Jack as she stood silently. White Kitty looked back and forth between the two with worry, noticing the shifts in the assassin's eyes that Jack's words had caused. _"This is not good. She's starting to fight my control!"_

"Shiva! Put me down and finish him! Now!" White Kitty barked.

The woman gave no hesitation as she let the cat slip from her arm, not even making any such motions as to soften his landing as he touched down on the roof.

As soon as the feline had managed to move out of the way (or more rolled out of the way, given his difficulty in carrying the jewel by himself), Jack and Shiva lunged at each other.

As Jack had had no doubts about before, the woman known as Shiva was an incredibly dangerous opponent, even more so now that she was unencumbered. Her strikes were swift and incredibly precise. Each chop or kick aimed at another pressure point on his body that could instantly cripple him or do far worse. It was only his own knowledge of the same points that helped him avoid this, though that didn't make this fight any easier. Each blow he blocked was still aided by great force. Force of which his body could only take so much of, which he supposed was the idea. She'd either kill him outright or wear him down and kill him then, her technique utilizing her greater nimbleness, one of the few advantages she held over the samurai, to brush his attacks to the side before they hit her, striking at his leg or forearm to push the attack away.

Despite fighting such a dangerous foe, or perhaps even because he was fighting such a dangerous foe, Jack couldn't help but feel some great admiration for his opponent and disappointment that they should find themselves on opposite sides in battle. In blow for blow they countered each other perfectly, her being one of the few people he'd ever met with skill great as his own.

Had the battle continued on longer, no doubt she may have even proved skill greater than his own, had she not fallen for the trap he'd laid at the beginning of their battle.

Shiva's sharpened hand went straight for his eyes. Jack countered swiftly by using his palm to push her hand to the right past his head, but this attack proved to be own a diversion.

Quickly reaching down towards his waist with her other hand, Shiva took hold of the hilt of Jack's katana, unsheathing the weapon in the blink of an eye before slashing it across his throat.

In any other fight this would have been the move that finished her opponent, thus why for a brief second Lady Shiva let her guard down and herself wide open.

Jack, with his head noticeably not separated from the rest of his body, took hold of his opponent by her neck and waist, giving himself the proper leverage as he flipped her over his body and slammed her down, face-first, into the floor, knocking her out cold.

His enemy defeated, Jack took in a deep breath before releasing it, his heart still slighlt pounding in his ears after such a hard-fought battle. He then reached down to pick up his sword from where she'd dropped it.

"My apologies for the deception." He said to the unconscious Shiva as he sheathed the blade. "My family's sword cannot be used to harm an innocent or be used to take a life unjustly, thus why I did not draw it in our battle. Even an assassin should not feel the blade's edge when being forced to fight against their will."

His eyes then turned to White Kitty, whom gave a frightened yowl and immediately took off running, as fast as his small legs could take him as he tried to keep hold of the jewel with one paw.

Exercising muscles he hadn't used in years, White Kitty leapt across the rooftop to the next building over, only to suddenly find himself caught in midair by a strong metallic hand stretching up from the street below.

With kitty in tow the arm receded back down to its owner, a tall orange haired man in a white lab coat and glasses so thick and clean White Kitty could see his perfect reflection in them.

It being very clear to him that the cyborg's grip on him was too strong for him to break out of, White Kitty used the one option he had left, and started to purr. And rub his jaw and cheek against the man's robotic hand. And fwip his tail back and forth into front of the man's face. All while the slits in his eyes stared directly into the man's.

In response to this, the man simply plucked the Cat's Eye Jewel from the cat's grasp with his free hand.

"I'm hooked up to the internet. You'll find I'm quite immune to the cuteness of cats." The man said simply, his voice giving a small robotic echo as he spoke.

* * *

" _Speaking of a watchful eye…" Martian Manhunter spoke up. "There is a rather unorthodox choice I'd like to add in. Someone Batman and I have been keeping an eye on since he first came to our attention a few years ago."_

" _Came to your attention how?" Shayera asked._

" _He attempted to remotely hack the JLU Watchtower." Batman answered._

" _You're kidding me, right?" Green Lantern asked._

" _After he successfully hacked into Cadmus." Martain Manhunter continued._

" _Which he only found out about after he hacked into the Pentagon and downloaded everything they had." Batman finished._

" _And you want to put someone like that on the team because…?" Flash asked._

" _Because it's been months and they still don't know that it happened." Batman stated. "We only know about it because Mr. Terrific and Batgirl were able to trace his path and even then it took us weeks before we even got a name and face. That level of cyber infiltration, along with his extensive knowhow with robotics, is a factor we've been sorely lacking in since Steel left the team to take care of his family."_

" _That still doesn't answer the question, Bruce." Wonder Woman pointed out._

 _Superman already knew the answer to that one, knowing his friend too well. "You want to make sure Dexter is someone working on our side rather than against us."_

" _With someone of his intellect and shaky history? Yes." Batman said simply._

" _And you don't think who he's married to already shows whose side he's on?" Superman questioned._

" _Not as much as you do."_

* * *

His plan having fallen completely apart, White Kitty hissed loudly at Dexter and attempted to claw at his face. But Dexter simply held the feline out a little further and then zapped him with a few volts from one of his arms, causing him to quickly submit.

Dexter looked over to the other rooftop, where Jack stood smiling at him.

"…Please don't tell my wife I just tased a cat." He said.

"Did she and her sisters not fight that very same cat when they were younger?" Jack pointed out.

"Somehow I doubt that will make things any less awkward." Dexter commented as he held White Kitty under his arm. Gripping onto the side of the building, Dexter leapt off, his arm slowly stretching to help him descend down the building. His former teacher however simply leapt off the building and landing in a crouching position before standing up normally, like he didn't just jump off a several story high building while holding Shiva in his arms.

The two men walked the others of their group, whom had all gathered near the head of the unconscious Giganta, whose massive fame was laid out across the entire street.

"Someday, I hope you will take me up on my offer, Giganta." Wonder Woman said, small hints of sadness and pity in her voice as Giganta's beaten body shrank back down to its normal human size. "Flash. Shayera. Danny. Go see to the officers Cold and Polaris attacked. I imagine they'll need to get taken to the hospital as soon as possible."

"On it." Flash said, giving a thumbs up before speeding over to grab some of the many police officers off the street and rushing them off into the distance. Shayera meanwhile using her mace to smash the doors open on the iced over cars and help the officers get out of them while Danny simply phased through the cars.

After Volcana was moved over to where the other villains were gathered, Static continued in his process of using his powers to cling them to the wall. Jack and Dexter were about to do the same with their captured villains but Wonder Woman raised her hand, signaling for them to wait as she landed next to them.

Taking out her lasso, Diana wrapped it around Shiva's arms, giving it a tug to help tighten it. As the golden rope glowed, Shiva's head stirred and she gave a pained groan as she started to wake up.

"What…where…?" She said as she slowly opened her eyes, only for them to pop wide open as she saw the people she was surrounded by. "…Okay…what happened and why is my jacket covered in cat fur?"

White Kitty gave a nervous glance sideways as he tried to avoid looking in the assassin's direction.

"It appears my hypothesis was correct." Dexter commented, straightening his glasses. "Cadmus files put this type of simple theft work outside of Lady Shiva's usual M.O, suggesting there was some sort of mind control at work. A theory that was nearly confirmed when my optics detected a low hypnotic pulse as White Kitty attempted to sway me the same way."

Shiva gave an icy glare at White Kitty and if the feline could physically sweat he'd be giving off buckets worth in his fear.

"Do you think he used the same hypnosis on the other criminals as well?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Possibly a few hypnotic suggestions thrown the way of some of the bigger criminals like Doctor Polaris and Volcana to make them more agreeable, but more likely he gained their allegiances through simple promises of money rather than full mind control, something he does not have the capability for on his own." Dexter said, giving him his best explanation of the scenario.

Taking a moment away from putting the fear of God in White Kitty, Shiva asked "So since you know that I'm innocent, I can assume I'm free to go?"

"An assassin wanted worldwide is hardly innocent, no matter whose pawn they suddenly find themselves as." Wonder Woman replied, holding her hand up to show that she still held the lasso that bound the woman. "I'm sure you'll exercise all your usual tricks of getting out of the legal system, but that doesn't mean we have to make it easy for you."

Shiva's face contorted into a frown but she hung her head in acceptance, knowing even she couldn't break the bonds of the Amazon's lasso. She turned her head to Jack. "You can put me down know."

"Of course." Jack said politely, slowly placing her back down onto her feet. Once he was done, he said "I do hope that perhaps this experience will allow you to reflect on past transgressions and change your ways for the better."

"Unlikely." Shiva said simply with a shrug of her shoulders. "That said, my face hurts quite a bit and given the few things I can recall at the moment, I'm guessing you were the one to do that. So I'm certain we will meet again for a rematch, under hopefully better conditions. After all, I do have a reputation to uphold."

She gave him a smile and Jack smiled back. Jack gave a respectful bow to the woman and surprisingly, she gave one back before Wonder Woman lead her away towards the rest of the criminals.

Still holding White kitty under his arm (the villain now having great regret over pissing off one of the world's deadliest assassins), Dexter's eyes gave a quick flash of light.

"Hm."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Nothing. Just an update on the situation in Tokyo." Dexter explained.

"Anything bad?"

"Nothing they can't handle."

* * *

 **Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Japan:**

It happened just barely an hour ago. Almost like a scene from one of classic movies that'd taken place in this very city.

People passing by on the bridges started to slow as on the ocean they saw several large spikes start to emerge from the water, each being nearly the size and length of a building once fully above. They moved towards the city at great speed, as the beast they were connected to swam under the waves.

It came up from the docks first, its massive orange frame ripping through the wood and ships like tissue paper. The surviving dock workers who look back to remember this day will recall one thing first before any other: its eyes. Its many horrible eyes.

Second would likely be its roar, heard clearly despite the many screams from the city.

Fully emerged from the water it stood taller than most of the buildings that surrounded it and its frame so wide it couldn't fit between any of the buildings, even on the widest street. Not that it tried to, choosing instead to simply force its way though and knock down whatever happened to be in its way. Its long spiked tail waved simply back and forth as the creature stomped its way into the city, crashing into many vehicles and buildings the rest of the monster had missed.

With its fin-like arms and scaly and spiked exterior, along with its very round physique, the creature bore a great resemblance to the _Diodon holocanthus_ , or the Balloon fish if you will. Only with the obvious difference of being much, much larger (that and having feet to stand on).

Why this strange creature had chosen to suddenly attack this city, no one could say, and in truth the creature didn't seem to have a true motive, simply tearing its way through the buildings it came across with no seeming rhyme or reason for any of it. It stomped its way through the streets as the citizens ran screaming in terror. The Japanese Air Force as called in to deal with the monster but they quickly discovered their rounds had no effect on it, simply bouncing off the creature's thick hide. In fact, the Giant Fishballoon Monster might not have even have noticed them had the noise of their planes not seemed to annoy it, causing it to flail its fins around in the air to smack them out of the sky and into the now fiery earth below. Once the noise had been silenced the creature simply continued back on its path of destruction.

And then things got worse.

From space an unidentified object crashed down into the heart of the city, the shockwave echoing throughout the land and instantly catching the attention of the monster.

From the fiery crater of which it'd created upon impact, a giant robot, the likes of which the world had hoped to never see again, emerged. Its outer shell was completely red and black in color and its most outstanding feature was easily its head. A giant mechanical skull completely encased in the flames that continuously erupted from within its body. It had no hands but in their place were two weapons that made it far more dangerous.

Upon the sight of this other massive creature in what the Fishballoon Monster had deemed as its territory, the creature let loose a deafening roar that shattered every window for several blocked. The robot gave a roar of its own but it was much more one-note and hollow than the fish's had been, indicating even more its lack of being a living creature.

The robot raised both its arms at the creature, the holes in their centers glowing only for a second before they unleashed two powerful blasts of pure radiation and concussive force at the monster.

Upon impact the Fishballoon Monster was sent flying back, toppling several buildings as went. The blasts were not enough to break through the creature's hide, but they were certainly enough to tick it off.

Once it managed to get back to its feet, the creature gave another roar at its enemy before sucking in a great deal of air. With every bit of air it took in the creature's size increased, until it'd now roughly doubled in size and stood a full head (relatively) over the robot.

The robot fired its energy blasts again at the monster and once again it took the full brunt of the attack. This time however the creature was just simply pushed back by the power against it and was otherwise unharmed.

Once the energy attack ended, the Fishballoon Monster let loose its own energy attack from its mouth against the robot. It was a much shorter burst than the robot's had been but it was certainly powerful enough to cause it to stumble back a steps upon striking it. The robot took a moment to adjust itself after being hit so unexpectedly, but after that it simply looked back up at the creature and gave the same hollow roar as before.

The Fishballoon Monster roared back and the two titans charged at each other.

As soon as they clashed the fish was the first to make its strike. With its sharp teeth and wide jaws, it bit down on the robot's head and right shoulder. It held on tightly but could not break through the metallic armor. The robot roared and the flames expelling from its body amped up, increasing their heat and power and forcing the creature to release it before it choked on the flames.

The robot swung its mighty arm and struck the fish across the face before doing the same with its other arm. It then pressed the tips of its arms against the monster's belly and fired. The force yet again knocked the creature back and down. And due to taking the impact at such a short range, some of the creature's stored air was lost, causing its size to decrease slightly.

The robot did not let up, walking over to where the Fishballoon monster had fallen and stomping on its chest. It them pointed its arms at it again and unleashed its power, this time with no where the creature could escape to.

The robot's downward blasts rocked the entire city and the Fishballoon Monster roars of pain and rage could be heard for miles. This was not the end for the creature, however, as its fins grabbed the robot's leg and flipped it on its back, causing its blasts to sail upwards away from the creature, cutting through several buildings before reaching the sky.

The Fishballon's body was slightly blackened but it still managed to stand, proving the toughness of its hide. The monster then grabbed the robot's leg again, using it to start spinning the robot in a circle a few times before letting it go and letting it fly. The toss sent the robot through several more buildings as its body skipped along the ground, carving through the streets as it went. The Fishballon Monster then sucked in more air until its body became much more rounded in shape. It held its legs and tail in close to its body as it curled up into a ball, lurching itself forward as it rolled at its enemy.

The monster's body smashed into the robot at high speed, the robot's open frame being the only thing that prevented it from simply being run over. The giant metal man dug its feet into the ground to gain leverage while the rolling monster continuously pushed and scraped against it with its heavily spiked body. The robot raised its arms up and brought them both crashing down onto the creature, pushing it slightly into the ground and halting its spin. The robot did this again, pushing it down even further. The robot did it once more, the impact sending dust flying across the city. Even on this last hit though, the monster still did not release any of the air it had trapped inside, and there was a reason for that.

The creature had held its breath in order to build up pressure within its body and with the robot's final hit, that pressure reached its critical point, causing the spikes that covered the monster's hide exploding outward and across the entire city. Most of the spike struck the robot, as it was its most immediate target. The spike could not break through its body and simply bounced off but those that struck its head knocked it off balance and temporarily blinding it as they struck the openings that made up its eye sockets.

The rest of the spikes however went across the city, the massive javelins impaling buildings and streets and signs as they spread out away from the fighting monsters. Those whom had thought themselves safe while being away from the monsters or even just thinking themselves with time to get away now found themselves fleeing even faster from their homes and workplaces as death rained from above. A woman and her child watched in horror out the window as the building across from theirs tumbled to the ground as one of the spikes took out the bottom floor.

The woman then held her child's face into her chest so that the girl wouldn't have to watch any more, as she saw another spike that was headed straight for them, too fast for them to get out of the building in time.

The woman clamped her eyes shut and waited for the end to come.

…But it never did.

She heard no shattering of glass or concrete like she thought she would. Instead there was simply…nothing.

The woman hesitantly reopened her eyes, seeing the building surrounding her still intact, and outside the window, there was someone she knew, in so far as there was no one on the planet who didn't know this man. From his bright blue outfit to his flowing bright red cape to his most recognizable trait of all, the red and yellow "S" shaped shield that was displayed proudly across his chest. There was no mistaking this man for any other.

"Superman!" The woman exclaimed, nearly crying in relief at the sight of him as she saw the flying man had caught the spike, several times larger than his own body, before it'd struck the building.

The child she held in her arms quickly turned her head in excitement at the mention of his name. Superman gave a quick smile to the child, letting her know that things were going to be alright, before quickly focusing on the task at hand.

Gripping hard on the spike with both hands, Superman threw it forward to the sky, striking another of the flying spikes and destroying them both before they could do any more harm. Thrusting his body forward with his fists held in front of him, the last son of Krypton streaked through the sky of Japan, throwing himself through spike after spike as he prevented them from hitting anything below. His eyes blazed bright red as his heat vision stretched across the city, taking down as many spikes as he could that were too far out of his reach.

From down below he could hear the people of Tokyo cheering his name as they watched him, giving the man of steel some relief at there still being plenty of people alive in the city, even among all the destruction.

Still, as he usually had to do in these situations, he had to do his best to tune it out, not being able to risk the distraction.

Superman placed his fingers to his ear, activating his comlink device as he flew. "GL, what's your status?"

"Not great." The Green Lantern of Earth said strenuously as the emerald energy poured out from his ring to form a massive shield that covered a full block of the city, protecting the people below from the falling rubble of the buildings. "Been trying to separate the big guys but they seem a lot more interested in fighting each other than dealing with us, which would be such a bad thing if they weren't doing it right in the middle of a city!"

"How's your partner holding up?" Superman asked.

"She-" A loud booming noise cut off John Stewart and seconds later an object from the sky crashed down next to him. Looking down into the small crater it made John could see it was a woman.

…Or at least something that was meant to resemble a woman. While the singular colors of blue and white would make one tilt their head, from a distance she looked like any other person, sporting a simple but pleasing look of a tank top, a miniskirt, and knee socks, along with pigtails that would make anyone else look younger than they really were. But upon closer inspection it would be made very clear that this woman was not human, but a robot. With her "pigtails" being small rocket thrusters and her apparent clothing just being blue armor plating that provided her extra protection, though the joints of her shoulders and knees were still left exposed.

"Jenny!" The Green Lantern called out, running in close to help her, his energy construct finally being allowed to fade as the rubble had stopped falling. "You all right, kid?"

The robotic girl rubbed her soot covered head. "Yeah…I think so. I tried to get in close to pop the Fishballoon but even my drill couldn't break through its skin. And then when it saw me it just smacked me away."

* * *

" _But seriously, Shayera." Flash readdressed the former Hawkgirl. "What about your nomination? She's never had a secret identity and Skyway Patrol is on her butt constantly."_

" _True, but half the time she's not even dealing with threats from Earth." She countered. "The biggest personal hits she's taken have been from people who'll just as likely take down the Earth along with dealing with her."_

" _You are referring to the Cluster and its fallen queen?" The Martian Manhunter asked._

 _Shayera nodded. "I've told you before that the Green Lantern Corps rarely, if ever, reached out as far as Thanagar. Whenever Vexus and her forces tried to invade us, we had no one to turn to for help other than ourselves and we barely held our own most of the time. Even the Gordanians were rumored to call off their assaults against our planet if they heard the Cluster were in the area. Not only did Jenny and her mother take Vexus down, they helped establish a new ruling monarchy on Cluster Prime and got them to permanently end their invasions of other worlds. If anyone deserves a spot on the new team, it's her."_

* * *

The robotic girl known as XJ-9 (though she prefers Jenny) got back on her feet, her titanium body being slightly scratched up and dirty from the impact but otherwise unharmed. Green Lantern looked upwards towards where the two monsters were still fighting, the Fishballoon having regrown the spikes along its back and tail. The blows the two creatures landed on each other were like thunder in the way that they echoed across the city, with neither seeming to gain an advantage for long against the other.

"If we don't take out one of these things soon there's not going to be a city left for the survivors to come back to." He said, pressing his comlink to speak to Superman. "We need those carbon rods!"

"They'll be here soon. We just have to hold down the fort for a little…" He suddenly trailed off.

"Superman?"

"Off in the distance. I just heard the sound barrier break. Three times." He explained. Though the lantern could not see it, Superman was smiling. "We've got our back-up."

From three different points on the horizon, three different flying objects blazed their way into the city, each with their own distinct trail of pink, blue, and green following behind them. The objects joined together as they travelled in one path across the sky, flying at unimaginable speed towards the dueling giants. And once they got in close enough, the three objects slammed themselves upwards into the Fishballoon Monster body, sending the behemoth flying back over the city's skyline and above the buildings until it came crashing back down into the bay area from which it first emerged.

What had caused such a powerful blow that even the two monsters had not managed to deal to each other? Upon closer inspection the people of the city could see that it was three women, all of whom floated in the air as they moved themselves out of the very confused robot's view.

The women were dressed quite distinctly from each other, but the different overall color schemes of their outfits were the most immediate difference.

One was a short haired brunette woman with a very stern and serious face. She wore a green fighter's outfit with black shorts and a white bandana across her forehead.

Another was almost a stark contrast to the other, being a blond haired woman with very long pigtail, tied at both ends of her head with blue bows. She had a very kind and happy, almost energetic, smile across her face and wore a blue and white sleeveless dress that almost made her look like a pop singer.

The third was possibly the most normally dressed out the group, wearing a very professional looking pink suit and skirt combination, with a white undershirt and black tie and a long white lab coat. Her most outstanding physical feature was easily her long orange hair, stretching all the way down past her waist and the big red bow that sat atop her head. She was also holding in her arms several large metallic rods.

The two other women flew off towards the monster while the long haired one flew quickly towards Green Lantern and Jenny.

* * *

" _These three have been on the table for a while." Superman said._

" _And there's a reason for that." Batman reminded him._

" _They do have quite a bit of experience at this." Wonder Woman pointed out._

" _Kind of hard not to." Flash commented. "They've been at this…what? Since they were ten? Eight?"_

" _Literally since they were born." Green Lantern answered._

" _Time spent on the job does not immediately equate to experience." Batman pointed out._

" _Can't believe I'm saying this but I have to agree with Batman on this." Shayera said. "For most of these girls' time as heroes they were kids. Yes, they've saved their city a fair number of times, the world even once or twice, but they've also showed their youth and recklessness quite a number of times over the years. They've only reached adulthood in the past few years. Are we sure they're ready for something like this?"_

" _They did save the entirety of existence from the threat of Dr. X." The Martian Manhunter commented. "They did what we were helpless to do at the time and are still highly regarded as heroes for it."_

" _Mind you he was going after them specifically." Green Lantern pointed out._

" _One could say the same about Brainiac and Darkseid in how we've saved the world after they've come after us." Wonder Woman retorted._

" _That still doesn't answer the question." Shayera said. "Are we sure they're ready for this?"_

" _If we give them the chance then maybe they can prove they are." Flash suggested pointedly. "We're just sitting here speculating on these three without actually taking the time to actually know them._

" _This is something we can't afford to play loosely with." Batman said. "Though it's better than it once was, most of Earth's governments still see the League as a super powered and free-roaming army. One with no official jurisdiction and that answers to no one. And now we're talking about adding three of possibly the most powerful beings on the planet into an already volatile roster. No matter what side of the law they've found themselves on in the past, right or wrong, and no matter how much good they've done in spite of that, all the pressure is going to be placed on them. If they mess up, people will come after the League and use them as example of why we need to be reined in."_

" _You want to veto them because of what some people who want us gone anyway might do to the League?" Flash said. "You of all people?"_

" _The League will likely be able to handle it." Superman said. "We're worried about what these people will do to the Powerpuffs in the crossfire."_

* * *

Blossom handed off the carbon rods to Green Lantern. "Sorry we couldn't get here sooner." She said.

"You got here. That's all that matters." He said as the energy from his ring took hold of the rods. He then looked over at the Fishballoon Monster in the bay. "You said you've fought a creature like that before?"

"Once or twice, though it's been a while." Blossom answered honestly.

The Lantern nodded. "I'll leave it to you three. Jenny and I are better protected against radiation so we'll handle Brimstone. Superman's taking care of the collateral damage at the moment, so you shouldn't need to worry about holding back too much. Just make sure to take it down as quickly as possible."

Blossom gave a quick nod in understanding before rushing off to join her sisters. John turned to Jenny. "You ready for this, kid?" He asked her.

The robot girl smiled cockily at him as a pair of flight wings extended from her back and the rocket thrusters that made her pigtails lit up. "Try and keep up." She said as she blasted off towards the flaming giant.

The Lantern couldn't help but give a sideways grin. "No wonder Shayera likes her." He commented as he few off after her.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, at the JLU Watchtower:**

The red pupil-less eyes of J'onn J'onzz, better known to the world as the Martian Manhunter, kept watch over the Watchtower's monitors, viewing the three simultaneous battles on the Earth below. The situation in Metropolis was all but dealt with at the moment so his attention was more focused on Japan.

"The Powerpuff's plan. It is a simple one but seems to be working." He commented to the one other person in the room, the cowl-clad dark knight of Gotham, the Batman. "These creatures seem determined to destroy each other. By forcing the Fishballoon Monster into the bay, Brimstone is making its way out of the city to go after it. This should minimize any further damage to Tokyo."

"There's still the problem of taking them down before the situation gets out of control again, something that'd be difficult for even the entire league to do if it was there." Batman commented, keeping his eyes on his own screen of the battles.

"Are you saying they can't do pull it off?"

"I'm saying that I hope their brilliant ideas are not limited to that one if they want to beat these things." Batman replied evenly.

"Agreed."

Several feet below the central hub in which the two stood, three others stood nearby the transporter deck, watching the battle below on a large monitor of their own. The largest of the three was a massive black and purple spider, nearly three times the size of a full grown man. In one of his many arms he held the leash that connected to a small pinkish colored dog with black ears and atop the spider's black sat a small black haired girl in a white dress, who couldn't have been more than three or four years old.

"See, Mimi, there's your momma." The spider known as Jeff said happily, pointing at the pink colored line as it zoomed around the Fishballoon Monster along with her sisters. "She'll be done with that thing in no time at this rate. Shame it has to be done so violently, though…"

The small girl said nothing in response to her nanny, simply sitting with her arms folded across the top of the spider's head as she continued to stare at the screen.

* * *

 **Back in Tokyo:**

Bubble's fist struck against the side of the monster's face, with seemingly no damage being caused. "Was this thing always so tough?" She asked, trying to make her voice heard over the creature's roar.

"I think it's different one of the same species." Blossom said as she avoided the creature's tail swings. "One that's going to take a lot more than a sharp sign to pop."

"We don't need anything sharp." Buttercup called out. "We just need to hit it in its weakest points." The green Powerpuff then flew around to behind the creature before striking with full force at the back of its knee. The monster howled with pain as its legs buckled, temporally unable to support its own weight, and it collapsed into the water, sending a torrent of water splashing straight upwards.

"Nice one!" Bubbles said happily.

Buttercup smirked proudly. "Sensei Jack knows his stuff. This thing's not beaten yet but for now it won't be marching back into the city."

"We should try and disable it's eyes next." Blossom stated. "Not permanently but maybe we can cause it to retreat back to its home out of fear."

"Uh…girls?" Bubbles said, trying to get her sisters' attention. "Is it getting bigger again?"

The other two looked and indeed the creature's mass was starting to expand again, only this time instead of air it was sucking in water from the sea, as evidenced by the vortex swirling into its mouth and the sharply receding sea-level at the coast. Once the Fishballoon Monster had taken in its fill it'd grown to twice its previous and already massive size. The drawback of growing so much was that the creature's mobility had become virtually non-existent, unable to move its fins or legs any longer. But due to the Powerpuff's pervious attack, that really didn't matter anymore.

From the monster's mouth the water exploded outwards like a fire hose, with thousands upon thousands tons' worth of water spraying out to attack the three women. Buttercup found herself to be the first struck by the attack, with her and the water cutting through the tops of skyscrapers like they were made of butter as she was sent flying back. The other two found it easier to dodge the blasts once it hit a constant speed and Buttercup was quick to fly back into the fray. However, once the monster realized that its blasts were no longer going to hit their targets, it instead aimed downwards at the sea, kicking off a massive tidal wave.

The women found it easy enough to break their way through the wave, despite its pressure, but quickly came to the realization that the wave's intention was not just to get them, but the city and the Brimstone robot as well.

Blossom turned, ready to bolt back into the city in order to somehow stop the wave from flooding the land while her sisters kept dealing with the beast. But just before she went she saw the wave start to suddenly slow in its tracks as it started to quickly freeze over. From the distance she could make out the small blue blur that was Superman, using his artic breath to stop the wave. She breathed a sigh of relief, though it was a small one. She had her own similar ability to his that she'd thought about using to contain the creature, but had quickly dismissed it. With the monster's titanic strength, it was doubtful that the ice would manage to hold it for long. The way this battle was going it seemed that they were running out of options fast.

Once the Fishballoon's stored water ran out, it simply shoved its face back down under and started to drain it again, keeping its spiked exterior pointed outwards to protect itself.

Buttercup flew up to Blossom. "Brimstone's getting closer. Maybe we can get Balloon Boy here to hit it with a direct assault from its water blasts. That could shut down the robot and free up the others to help us." She suggested.

"No!" Blossom quickly yelled. "If we do that it could create a cloud of radioactive steam that would cover the whole city!"

"Well then, what do we do?!" Buttercup yelled back.

Blossom had no answer yet to give back, her wide pink eyes scanning around the entire area for something that might give her an answer, while the creature's expanding frame constantly reminded her of the ticking clock.

She then looked back at the frozen wave. And lightbulb went off in her head.

Blossom clicked the comlink in her ear. "Superman. We need your help. I have an idea."

* * *

Without even needing to exchange words, Jenny had understood the Green Lantern's plan. She was to serve as a distraction for Brimstone, keep the radioactive metal man aiming his blasts up high and away from the city, while he got in close enough to insert the carbon rods into the small hole in the robot's chest just below its head. From what she'd been lead to believe, even one of the rods should be enough to distill the radiation in the robot's core and shut it down.

But actually getting it in was easier said than done.

John had faced this very machine before and it'd nearly killed him. This time he believed himself more ready for it. With a ring that could travel past the stars he was more than fast enough to avoid any lingering blasts that the robot sent his way while Jenny did her thing, transforming her hands into large spiked fists or her arms into a variety of laser weapons, always keeping her aim at its head and never using the same assault twice. Once John got close enough for him to feel the robot's intense heat even through his body shield, by the power of his ring he sent three of the several rods at the opening.

And then they were suddenly bounced back by a quick burst of energy from inside the opening, lasting only seconds but enough to push them away.

"What the-?!" The Lantern cried out before the area around the opening started to move and Brimstone's chest started to open up. The newly exposed area was too bright for John to see what was inside, though he didn't need to in order to now that the now increasing brightness was a bad thing.

From the opening a torrent of blinding white energy came flooding out, the beam easily as wide as the robot's full chest. Though he froze for a second from the unexpectedness, the Green Lantern was quick to bolt back and out of the beam's way, taking the remaining carbon rods with him as he did.

The beam followed closely as it could behind his trail, the massive energy output cutting through the street and buildings as it went. All the damage that could have followed in casing the Lantern was thankfully avoided in thanks to Jenny's interference, swapping her hands out for two very impressively sized mallets, which she proceeded to slam on both sides of Brimstone's head with. The beam near instantly cut off as the robot's head rang out like a bell, not even dented.

Still, it was an impressive move on Jenny's part, though not one she'd be able to repeat any time soon, as the heat surrounding the robot's skull was enough to cause the metal of Jenny's hammers to start to drip, causing her to quickly swap back to her regular hands.

"Could that thing always do that?" She asked John while they had a minute to breathe.

"No." He answered, his voice very understandably angry and bitter. "Someone's been upgrading this thing!"

The robot's openings closed up as it regained its senses and Brimstone raised its head again to face the heroes. John and Jenny readied themselves for what was to come. With all the energy its last attack put out, it was reasonable to assume it couldn't use all three of its attacks at once without severely draining itself, meaning it was likely to attack with its arms again.

Thus it was quite concerning for the two when it didn't do that. It just continued to stand in place, looking at the two while doing nothing.

"Hey…" Jenny said, trying to get the Lantern's attention. "…Do you hear some kind of humming sound?"

From what he knew about the girl's many different abilities, John knew she had some form of enhanced hearing, so she likely was picking up on something out of his range. But slowly the humming noise started to grow louder and louder, until even he could hear it. And it was coming from within Brimstone.

He nearly yelled for his partner to get down but it was too late. A pulse of some sort burst from Brimstone's body and spread out across the city. Green Lantern tensed himself, his body shield ready for whatever it was he just got hit with.

But a second later and he realized that he was not the one effected by the pulse but the entire city, as starting from the pulse's epicenter lights began to shut off all over Tokyo, including those of the buildings, signs, and cars.

"An EMP?" He quickly surmised. His eyes then went wide and he turned just in time to see Jenny falling to the ground, eyes solid black and disabled as the rest of the city.

The Green Lantern reacted fast, his ring blasting to the ground below her to form a large bedspread and mattress to break her fall, not knowing how much damage she could sustain while shut down. She hit the bed hard, her deceptively thin body weighing several hundred pounds, but the construct held and she bounced just slightly on it before her body came to rest.

It was at that moment that a large shadow fell over the Lantern and he didn't even have to turn to know that it was one of the massive arms of Brimstone swinging down at him. The thousand tons of metal struck him and the Lantern hit the ground straight below him with enough force that it would have broken every bone in his body were it not from his ring's protection.

John did his best to stand from where he'd landed, barely paying attention to the clattering of the carbon rods as they fell behind him next to Jenny, him no longer having the concentration to keep them floating. Brimstone then took a step forward to him and pointed both its arms at the two heroes. The ends of its blasters glowed brightly for the second before they fired, and John threw his ring hand forward to meet it, creating a large green brick wall before him and Jenny to take the blast.

Hal would have thought fast, thinking of something last minute to get him and Jenny out of the way before counterattacking. Kyle would have thrown something creative and unexpected at the robot. Guy probably would have just fired back and turned this into a beam struggle.

But this? This was where John showed what made him a great Lantern of his own.

Little known fact, one often overlooked by his exceptional time in the Marines, but in his daytime job, John is an architect. A man wishing the build things up after so long of needing to tear things down. And it is that part of the man that is John Stewart that gives him one of his greatest strengths as a Green Lantern.

His constructs, like everything he makes, are always strong. And they always stand.

Even in the face of this nuclear bomb turned into a focused weapon, that carved the street and buildings around him until they were nothing but dust and sand, his wall stands.

Jenny's eyes light back up during the violent clash, this not being the first EMP she'd encountered in her life. Thanks to the emergency procedures her mother installed, it'd only taken Jenny's body a few seconds to reroute its functions properly and get her back online.

She stood up slowly, seeing the back of the Green Lantern as his wall continuously pushed back against the blinding wave of power. She took a step forward, wanting to help him in some way, and her foot hit one of the carbon rods, bring it back to her attention.

She tried to think of a way to still win this. Shutting Brimstone down was the only way to beat it but how could they possibly get the rods into its core? The old way in was now being protected and neither of them were strong enough to break through its armor. There were no other openings they could use.

" _Or is there…?"_ Jenny soon thought to herself, looking up at the robot's arms.

Finally, Brimstone's attack ended, the robot allowing time for the smoke to clear so that it could see if its quarries had been destroyed yet. From where the blasts had struck still stood the Green Lantern, panting and sweating heavily, but alive and untouched, even as his wall faded. Brimstone showed no true reaction to this, simply raising its arms up again to fire once more. John grimaced, the pain in his ring hand feeling like it was enough to break it. He didn't trust his chances of being able to survive a head-on blast like that again so he prepared himself to grab Jenny and run.

But just at that moment, the robotic girl flew past him, carrying the bundle of carbon rods in her arms.

"Jenny! Wait!" He called out after her but she was too far gone as she flew upwards as fast as she could go, straight up into the glowing barrel Brimstone's right arm.

Brimstone did not react like anything was wrong, as his weapons fired as they normally would, causing Green Lantern to quickly fly out of their way.

But soon the blast from the robot's right arm started to flicker for a few seconds before it finally died out. Smoke soon followed as it started to pour out the barrel and the arm suddenly went limp at the robot's side. Large sparks and several small explosions started to trail up the arm and Brimstone finally gave a reaction with it hollow roar, its mind unable to understand what was happening to it.

The blasts from its other arm soon cut off as well, as the series of explosions reached the robot's chest. Brimstone roared several more times as its left arm tried banging against its chest, doing probably as close to panicking as it was capable of, before one more explosion at its center finally caused all of its motion to cease. The flames that covered its skull like head flickered out before being snuffed in a large cloud of smoke. Brimstone fell to its knees before finally its body completely collapsed to the ground, at last defeated.

Green Lantern dove right down to the robot's fallen head. "Kid?! KID!" The energy from his ring formed several large drills, the Lantern's panicked mind hoping to somehow break through Brimstone's remains to get her out.

But thankfully he did not have to attempt such a feat, as from the space between the nuclear monstrosity's shoulder and head, a small white robotic hand stretched out, grasping at the sides of the armor to pull its owner back out. John's drills dissipated as he rushed over to help her.

Pulling her to freedom, he could see that she was heavily damaged. Both of her legs were missing below the knees, as well as the entirety of her other arm and one of her pigtails. Other parts of her were either partially melted or severely blackened.

Jenny's face, one of the few parts of her that was still mostly intact, asked with a weak smile "So…how'd my first JLU mission go?"

Green Lantern said nothing at first, never comfortable with ever seeing one of his allies in such shape, but gave her a sincere smile back, figuring she needed one. "A few more heart attacks like that and you'll catch up to Flash's number." He told her. "That's my way of saying don't do that again."

"No objection on my end." Jenny said.

John nodded and the energy from his ring covered her body, helping him to keep her remaining form in one piece until she could get her much needed repairs.

* * *

The Fishballoon Monster's innards filled to their maximum occupancy with seawater and the beast rose back up, determined to wipe out the three tiny pests that continued to get in its way. Its first target was already decided, as the blue one started to unleash some sort of ultrasonic screeching attack from her mouth. Even from behind the creature's protection of steel-like scales and several layers of muscle and fat, the monster's brain still felt like it was about to explode from the attack's intensity as the sound cut to its core.

Bubbles did as her sister had instructed, getting the monster's attention and getting it to turn towards her and away from the city, just in case her plan didn't fully work out as intentioned. Her voice started to give out after a bit and she decided to cut off the attack, Bubbles not able to keep the Sonics up for too long without risking great damage to her vocal cords. Thankfully though it was enough and everyone was now in position as the monster's body swelled up just slightly more as it prepared to fire.

It was a plan that never could have worked if it had been just one or two of them. But with four of the literally strongest beings on the planet? They had the power to move worlds. One simple water spout was nothing.

The Fishballoon unleashed its destructive torrent of pressurized water, aiming straight for Bubbles and paying no mind to the others. And in response, the three Powerpuffs, along with their called-in ally of Superman, all slammed their respective hands together with enough strength and speed to create a massive thunderclap; a centralized explosion of force strong enough to push back winds, upturn cars, knock over buildings, and in this case with the four of them combined, strong enough to knock the Fishballoon's waters right back at it.

This was part one of Blossom's plan. For the next part she only needed the abilities of herself and the man of steel. Knocking the monster's attack back upon itself would only last a second before its blast would continue as before, but thankfully the two were more than fast enough. They each unleashed their own respective artic breaths against the Fishballoon Monster, air from within lungs spacious enough to hold hurricanes freezing the beast from both the outside and within, now that its maw was left wide open enough for them to target the water it'd stored.

As the waters and waves surrounding the creature froze over and stopped, so too did the many eyed monster as its heart started to still and its movements slowed to a pause.

Seconds later, the entire bay area of Tokyo was a massive iceberg, and in its center was a thoroughly frozen and unmoving Fishballoon Monster, with the four heroes floating above it.

"…So what now?" Buttercup asked. "Do we each break off a piece?"

"The ice should hold until I can get in contact with Aquaman." Superman explained, waving off her more…aggressive suggestion. "He's dealt with sea creatures of this size and bigger. He'll know what to do with it and how to keep it away from the surface. Still…it would be a good idea to move it away from the city just in case."

"We can help with that." Bubbles volunteered enthusiastically, causing Superman to smile and Buttercup to roll her eyes slightly. Blossom however gave her watch an anxious look.

"Uh…actually, Superman…" She said hesitantly. "I really need to go pick up Mimi. It's past her bedtime and she and Jeff get really worried when I'm…well, when I'm-"

"Blossom. It's fine." Superman said, raising his hand and still smiling in a calming manner. "The main threats have been dealt with and other members of the League are on their way to help with the clean-up. You can go."

Blossom gave a very happy smile but quickly worked to suppress it, trying to look more professional. "Thank you for understanding." She said, giving a small bow of her head before taking off.

* * *

… **Moments later, back at the Watchtower…**

After a long moment of white light and Blossom's atoms realigned to place the Powerpuff leader onto the transporter. Most would feel a sense of queasiness after being beamed over a hundred thousand miles in particle form but Blossom seemed fairly unfazed by the experience, casually placing back on her wide, full circle glasses as she looked around at the technological pad.

"I wonder if Dexter and I could build anything like this back home?" She wondered quietly to herself, looking all around the large device before being startled by the dark figure she now noticed standing next to the transporter, having not made any noise even after she'd arrived. "Oh! Batman! Sorry. I didn't realize you were waiting." She quickly apologized to the Dark Knight as she quickly walked off the pad. "Are…are you on your way to Tokyo?"

"No." Batman said simply as he walked past her. "Something's come up in Gotham that requires my attention."

"Oh. Is there anything that maybe my sisters and I could do to-"

"No."

"Oh."

Blossom said nothing more, the man's tone making it clear he was not interested in any help. But, to something of her surprise, right as she turned to walk away, Batman said to her "You all did well, today. We never had any doubts about any of you being capable enough to handle threats. But how well you all will work together as a team of your own, without any League veterans, still remains to be seen. And if its anything like with ours, you'll find the experience more difficult than any monster." And on that last note, the transporter caused his body to glow brightly and he was beamed back down to Earth.

"O…kay…" Blossom said with some confusion. _"I know he's one of the original seven, but that guy makes me feel uneasy."_

But the Powerpuff shrugged it off and a happier expression returned to her face as she saw the giant spider scurrying towards her, the pink dog of Courage following closely behind.

"We just watched it all on the monitors, Blossom. You three were wonderful out there!" Jeff joyfully said to her, bringing a smile to her face.

"Thank you, Jeff. To be honest I-…" Something then immediately came to her notice. "Jeff…where's Mimi?"

"Mimi? What are you talking about? She's right-" Jeff then cut himself off as two of his many limbs felt the now empty space above his back. "…Oh dear…"

… **In the JLU control room…**

The Martian Manhunter continued to punch in coordinates for the transporter, using the Watchtower as a midpoint for League members before he sent them to help down in Tokyo, though certain members like The Flash would get there by their own power. The Martian then took notice of someone standing in the doorway behind him.

He turned his head and saw a small girl in a long white dress and long black hair. Her eyes had a slight red hue and she was holding in one of her arms a stuffed purple octopus with a top hat. J'onn recognized the girl as Blossom's daughter, Mimi, whom she'd brought onboard before departing for her mission.

"Hello, young one." The Martian said kindly. "Did you get lost?" J'onn took a step forward to the girl and felt a strange softness under his foot. He looked down and in place of the grey metal floors of the Watchtower, it was red sand.

Looking up his eyes went wide as he saw that the Watchtower walls no longer surrounded him, replaced by a vast red landscape of mountains and sands underneath an orange tinted sky.

"Mars?" J'onn breathed out in stunned amazement, it having been so long since he'd last seen his old homeworld. As he tried to steady himself from the sudden shock of the situation, he realized that he no longer was in his heroic persona, having reverted back to his natural Martian form.

He then felt the presence of another in his mind and it became clear that it was Mimi who was causing him to see all this, as even among the scenery of another world, she still looked at him calmly.

" _Are you…like me?"_ Her voice asked inside his head. It was a voice that certainly matched her age and though it spoke as calmly as her features, J'onn could feel a great sense of longing behind them.

"Mimi?" Said a voice from outside and suddenly J'onn found himself back on the Watchtower and in his more humanoid form. He fell slightly back on the control panel as he steadied himself, having been caught off guard by what he now realized had been the young girl connecting to his mind and going in deeper than she likely meant to. A second later and Blossom entered the room, her having been the voice that ended the vision. "There you are." She said, exhaling in relief.

"Momma!" The young Mimi ran up to her before Blossom picked her up and hugged her. Blossom then took notice of J'onn.

"I'm sorry, Mr…uh…Manhunter. Mimi wasn't bothering you, was she?" She apologized as she held her daughter in her arms.

"No. No, it's alright." J'onn said, standing back up as he'd mostly recomposed himself. "I…I do not think she meant any harm by it." He commented as he rubbed his head. "My apologies. I did not realize your daughter was a telepath."

"Oh!" Blossom said with surprise, though that surprise then quickly turned to a subtle worry. "Yeah…that's…that's not something a lot of people know about." She said, noticeably avoiding his eyes as she looked off to the side. She was quiet for a minute before she spoke again. "I'm sorry, but we really have to get going. Say goodbye to the nice man, Mimi."

To her mother's knowledge, Mimi seemed to have said nothing as they both left the room to return home. But as Mimi sat gazing over her mother's shoulder, J'onn heard her voice once again in his mind, doing exactly as Blossom had asked.

J'onn needed a minute to sit down.

* * *

 **Mini-Epilogue:**

… **Three weeks ago…**

Beauty can reside even in the most unlikely of places, and one would be hard-pressed to find a greater example of that saying than the lair of the villain known as Chase Young. For though its outward appearance is covered by dark mountains and the still partially active remains of a volcano, inside is a shining palace of beauty and elegance rarely seen in the world outside. Overflowing with a large series of staircases, open rooms, and pools of water, the whole area glowed with a blue and shining white light that filled the air with a sense of tranquility and calmness.

Hardly the place one would expect to house two of the world's most dangerous villains, nor the evils that were soon to arrive.

Wuya, the ancient witch of the Heylin side, sat with her feet dipped in the pool while her partner in evil, Chase, sat meditating nearby on a rock.

For the third time in three minute she gave a heavy and deliberate sigh.

"If you're bored you could always go outside and find something to do." Chase finally replied to her, not bothering to open his eyes as he talked.

"I'd go outside if I had an actual goal I wanted to accomplish, like in the old days." Wuya responded. "Hasn't been a Shen Gong Wu activation in years and it's driving me insane!"

"No Wu have been activated because they've all been found already." Chase pointed out to her. "Perhaps your time would be better spent if you did revolve all your plans around such trinkets."

"I used to not need to. Remember?" Wuya said as she slipped her feet out of the pool and walked towards Chase. "And you know as well as I do that it could be that way again." Wuya slid her finger seductively under his chin. "Think of how much grander our plans could be if you simply undid the magics that you used to bind my powers."

Chase finally did open his eyes to her and even gave her a smirk. "Sorry. But I don't find your sighs THAT annoying."

"Heh. We'll see." She commented with a smile as she walked back to the pool, putting a deliberate sway in her hips as she went. Though Chase would never admit it, he liked having her around. Not only was she a worthy ally but she kept him sharp too, as one wrong move around her could lead to her betraying him at a crucial moment or her abilities getting fully restored and no longer needing him. It'd developed into something of a game between them, one they'd both grown quite good at.

Before she got back in again, Wuya looked and saw that there was some strange green and red object laying inside the pool.

"What in the-?" Wuya's words were interrupted as the object suddenly burst out from under the water.

It revealed itself to be a small green man, about the size of a child, being suspended upwards by four long metal spider-like appendages sprouting from the pack on its back. Its head was large in comparison to the rest of its body and contained two wide ruby colored eyes and a pair of antenna atop its head. The creature also appeared to be wearing some sort of uniform: a red tunic-like garment with a pink collar and sleeves, complete with black boots and gloves.

It was also very, very loud.

"Puny Earthling woman and slightly more armored woman! Down on your knees and kneel! Kneel before the might of ZIMMMMMM!"

The creature's mechanical limps scurried him out of the pool as he approached the two. In retaliation, Wuya simply swiped her foot underneath two of the legs, tripping it up long enough for her to leap up and kick the creature across the room and into a wall.

Walking casual over to it, Wuya picked up the creature, its metal limps now bent with some of them stuck in the wall. She proceeded to poke the small being while it struggled angrily against her grasp.

"Well, whatever it is, it's squishy." Wuya commented to Chase, clearly not taking the little green man very seriously. "Perhaps he'll make a nice chew toy for the cats."

Chase seemed to be ignoring her at first, his eyes slowly shifting their gaze to the side of the room. He then leapt up, throwing his fist forward in a strike that hit nothing but air as he stopped.

But Chase could feel it. The grip of another's hand around his wrist.

"I'm impressed." Said a male voice from the nothingness before him. "There aren't many whom can detect my presence without the need of some, let's say, specialized equipment."

The man the voice came from made himself visible, his black glove keeping its tight hold on Chase's gauntlet. The man floated just slight above the ground, his white cape with a red interior flapping behind him in spite of the lack of a breeze. His skin had an inhuman sky blue coloring and fangs that were noticeably vampiric in appearance as the man smiled with a devilish grin.

Chase, to his credit, was not all that impressed. "You've made a foolish mistake in attacking me here." The villain stated calmly, recognizing the man for what he was. "I've fought the likes of ghosts and specters before. You will be no different than any of the others I've destroyed."

The ghost gave a chuckle at his words. "No, no, my friend. You misunderstand, though I can't hardly fault you for being so defensive against invaders in your lovely home. Please, allow me to explain." He said, releasing his grip on Chase. "My name is Vlad Plasmius. The green one over there is named Zim (though I'm sure you've already gleamed that for yourself). We're not here to fight you, but rather extend to you both an…invitation of sorts."

"An invitation to what?" Chase asked impatiently.

For what Chase could tell, Vlad deliberately paused before answering him, for dramatic effect.

"To the destruction of the Justice League." The ghost answered with a wicked smile. "As well as all the rest of Earth's heroes."

Chase and the ghost stood in silence for a solid minute as the weight of those words filled the room.

Finally, Chase crossed his arms. "I'm listening.

 **Chapter End**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** Holy crap, that was way longer than I thought it was going to be! I don't know whether to apologize or congratulate you all for making it through that mess.

So this is something I'll be working on every now and then along with my other stories, though I imagine Grim Tales: Complex will get more of my attention as I'm already a few chapters in and really want to add a few more, as I've been falling behind with how far along I've wanted the story to be.

To add some context, this story takes place long after the events of the Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi (by Bleedman and Griddles) and sometime before the events of Grim Tales From Down Below, thus why all the characters are older and the presence of a very young Mimi. This also takes place just a few years after the end of Justice League Unlimited, though I am going to be throwing in an occasional mixture of DC comics universe history as well. One example of this is that Hal Jordan was still Green Lantern and Barry Allen was still the Flash, but it is still the John Stewart Green Lantern and the Wally West Flash that helped form THIS Justice League, as in the show's continuity. These changes and add-ins shouldn't change much about the characters themselves or the continuity of the show.

Anyway, the new team of heroes brought into the League by the original seven are the Powerpuff Girl, Dexter, Samurai Jack, XJ-9/Jenny, Danny Phantom, and Static. All the characters look like they did in the flashback Grim Tales page: Fallen Heroes, with the exception of Static, whom has the same costume as he did in his TV series, only now a bit older, and Danny, whose costume is based on the one from the web comic Danny Phantom R (because I think it looks freaking amazing), which I highly recommend others to check out if they ever get the time.

And don't worry that any of your favorite cartoon may not have been put on the team, as the PPGD universe is made up of a lot of shows, so it is very likely that several other characters from different shows are going to pop up throughout the story.

Not much to say right now except that there will be a big bad villain that the Justice League, both members old and new, will have to deal with and there will be plenty of hints and foreshadowing about the dark future to come for these characters i.e Grim Tales.

Hope to see you then!

 **Questions to ponder:** None at the moment since this is the first chapter but there will be plenty to come.


	2. A Day in the Life of

**Part 2: A Day in the Life of**

 **nightmaster000:** I'm glad to hear that you liked it. To answer your questions, Mimi's parentage and who knows the true about it is something that'll be addressed throughout the story. If Aku does show up it probably won't be for any significant role in the story, as I've already got most of the villains planned out, and Chi likely won't appear at all, especially given my personal theory about who/what she actually is in  Grim Tales. And you are judging the timeline right for Mandy but that'll be something for a bit later in the story. As for Shiva and Jack, honestly I didn't give that much thought for any romance between the two as they'd likely see each other as warriors first before anything else (but then again I suppose the same is true for Jack and Ashi so maybe it'll be something to consider). Whatever I do choose to do I'll likely be careful how close to Bruce and Talia I'll make it, given in the comics she basically raped him.

 **Lord Razer:** Yeah, I can see that. If all goes to plan for this story sh*t is definitely going to hit the fan in a big way for all the characters involved.

 **Major144:** I'm glad to hear you like the choices. Other than the Powerpuff Girls themselves I had a hard time deciding who should be on the new team, especially when it came to Static and Danny, neither of whom are actually in PPGD. And there will be more villains on the way that will hopefully work out well, given that Vlad and Zim were sent by someone else to pick up Chase.

 **Commander M2:** I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. But I see that you've already written a fair amount of stories yourself so I'm sure you could write this idea of yours far better than I could. At the very least you'll have a better idea of what you'd want to see than I would, so I would encourage you to give writing it a shot. It could turn out pretty good.

 **Hinata28h:** It's all right, he/she is entitled to their own opinion and I wouldn't stop writing a story I've put so much time into just because of that (though I will still listen to genuine criticisms, as I'm far from a perfect writer). Anyway I'm happy to hear that you're likely this because one of my initial worries was that I wasn't sure how much overlap there was with fans of Powerpuff Girls and fans of DC, which could throw a wrench into the whole since this story is going to have a lot of both.

 **Guest:** Right now. Here you go.

* * *

 **Chapter start**

" _The City of Megaville! A place of grand and bustling infrastructure."_

The Powerpuff known as Blossom found herself being thrown clean though one of the many skyscrapers littering the cityscape, sliding across the street until the wall of another building stopped her momentum.

"… _Emphasis on the bustling."_

The orange haired Powerpuff rubbed her aching head as she got back to her feet. Her invulnerability left her body without a scratch but could not do a thing to help with common irritation. Especially not the kind that only the opponent she now fought could somehow always bring out in her.

"Looks like of the two of us, I'm the one who puts the real "Power" in Powerpuff, Blossom." The woman mocked sneeringly as she floated above Blossom.

Though the bulkier golden armor and heart insignia was new, there was no mistaking Princess Morbucks, heir to the Morbucks family fortune. Not that the Powerpuff's longtime enemy even tried to hide that fact. Outside of a built-in visor her face was completely exposed and the brat had even left open two spots on the sides of her helmet so that her curly poofs of red hair could hang out. Also, there was apparently no amount of money on earth that could keep her lisp from making her s's sound like th's, which was another giveaway.

"Come on, Blossom. I flew all the way back to this dump of a city just to put you and your sisters in your place. The least you could do is put up more of a fight." Morbucks pushed, raising one of her palm-attached repulsor blasters at the woman when she noticed Blossom wasn't making a move towards her.

In something that made the rich girl's eyebrow twitch in annoyance, Blossom simply took off her glasses, which the Powerpuff remarked as thankfully unbroken, and slid them into the inner pocket of her lab coat, something she now noticed was slightly torn up and ragged from her previous impact.

Blossom glared up at Morbucks with noticeable irritation. "I was on my lunchbreak."

"Well then, how appropriate it is that my friends and I are about to turn you into mincemeat!" Morbucks retorted.

"Friends?" Blossom asked.

"Yes. The only ones that matter! ME!" Morbucks cried triumphantly as from behind the rich girl Blossom spotted several small objects flying right for them, nine in total. They stopped when they reached their master, floating alongside Morbucks in a prefect line. Unsurprising given that these were machines. Robots created in Morbucks' own image, or to be more accurate, her chibi image, as each of the robots were of the same size as they were when they were in kindergarten together, with their bodies proportioned likewise.

"You see, unlike you "heroes", I know the value of good marketing." Morbucks stated proudly. "I start bringing these babies into battle with me every now and then, demand for their toy versions will go through the roof. Look, they even have their own distinct looks." She said happily as she had them split into three groups based off their designs. "First we have Princess Morbucks Classic, for those with nostalgia for my original costume. Then we have New Age Queen Morbucks, based as you can see on my current armored look, because you have to look towards the future. And finally, we have Princess Morbucks Classic with battle damage design, because the look of a tough battle always makes you want to root more for the hero. Let's face it, drama sell-"

Quicker than the woman's eye could keep up with, Blossom now floated directly in front of Morbucks, grabbing one of the battle damage design robots and crushing its steel face in her hand. She then looked directly into Morbucks' eye as she tore the robot's head from its body with one solid motion, dropping both halves of sparking technology to the ground below.

Morbucks floated with wide blinking eyes as Blossom continued to give her the death stare. Reacting quickly in panic, the woman threw her armored fist forward to strike her opponent. But Blossom's reactions were far faster, the Powerpuff placing her hand on Morbucks' breastplate and, with a flick of her wrist, sent the villain flying backwards for several feet, her armored form skidding and sparking across the street until she finally came to a stop.

Morbucks groaned as her body heavily ached. She'd fought the Powerpuffs several times in the past and thus had no trouble noticing that Blossom had only gotten stronger with age. She'd paid top dollar for her armor to be able to withstand the blows of meteorites and pressures beneath the Earth's mantle. And yet such a simple attack from Blossom had left a perfectly hand-shaped indentation in her armor's breastplate.

"You can't beat me, Morbucks. You know that." Blossom said sternly as she touched down on the ground before the rich girl. "Go home."

Morbucks gritted her teeth in response to Blossom's words as she got back to her feet. "Just like old times, huh? You and your sisters not even bothering to give me the time of day!"

Blossom's brow furrowed slightly more, irritated that the woman wasn't going to give up. She may not have any kind of love for the girl but that didn't mean Blossom wanted to hurt her.

Morbucks on the other hand had no such feelings about her, taking the opportunity of Blossom focusing on her to let her "babies" have their turn.

The eight remaining toy versions of Morbucks gathered together in attack formation from behind the Powerpuff, the jewel in each of their respective crowns lighting up before firing off a powerful blast of red energy, all aimed at Blossom.

Blossom didn't even look back in response, simply tilting her upper body slightly to the right so that the energy beams passed right by her and went to Morbucks. Panic fueling her speed, Morbucks activated her secondary forcefield just in time for the circular dome to encompass her body and intercept the blast, protecting her from any harm.

Realizing they were attacking their master, the Morbucks Toys immediately cut off their blasts. This left Blossom with the opening she needed for her counterattack. The Powerpuff's pink eyes lit up several shades brighter as she turned around and blasted them all with a long sweeping line of her heat vision, cutting each of the robots in half before their damage caused them to explode.

Morbucks watched from behind her shield as shrapnel fell to the ground and Blossom turned back towards her.

"Last warning, Morbucks. Go home." Blossom stated.

The secondary forcefield cut out, only having enough spare power to be used in quick bursts and thus why she didn't have it on before. Though there was clear nervous sweat on her face, her fist was clenched in anger, showing her contempt for the Powerpuff simply trying to blow her off. Still, Morbucks made an effort to calm herself, reminding herself that she still had her backup plan.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Blossom. But I plan on moving a lot of merchandise." The rich girl smirked.

Blossom raised an eyebrow in confusion but soon heard the cracking of the street beneath her feet. Quickly jumping back from where she was Blossom watched as a massive form burst from below, taking up the width of nearly the entire street.

It was another robot, only of a much simpler design than the Morbucks Toys had been. The main body of this robot was seemed to be a simple large toybox, with two long clawed arms and about eight long metallic, spider-like legs to keep it upright as it stood over her.

"What in the world?" The Powerpuff couldn't help but exclaim as she beheld this strange new sight.

"Oh, just wait! It gets better!" Morbucks yelled gleefully from behind the robot.

As soon as the words left the villain's mouth, the lid to the robot's toy chest body opened wide up, and from this open top three more of the Morbucks Toys flew out.

Then five more.

Then ten more.

Then about twenty.

And so on until Blossom was now full witness to an entire swarm of mechanical chibi creatures, all bearing the rich girl's likeness.

"Well…this is just great…" Blossom muttered dejectedly, unable to hide the bit of tension that now crept into her words.

Happy to see that she now had the Powerpuff's full attention and presumed respect, Mormucks continued on with a bit more confidence. "As you can see, I don't skimp out on my product. After all, that is why I hired one of the best toy manufactures in the world for this job."

The large toy chest robot re-closed its lid and bent over slightly so that Blossom had a closer look at its features. As the distance closed the Powerpuff now noticed that the decorative lock on the toy box body was see-through, with a little boy sitting inside working the robot's controls.

At least, that's what she thought at first. But upon closer inspection this "little boy" was about the size of a short but still grown man. The innocent child-like face he wore was in reality just a large plastic mask that covered the entirety of his features, complete with a permanent wide, tooth-filled smile.

"Blossom, meet the Toyman." Morbucks introduced.

"How very nice to meet you, Mrs. Powerpuff." Toyman greeted her from inside the robot. His voice was very hushed and quiet, with a clear attempt at a tone of innocence in his words, which only served to make his overall presence even more unnerving as he stared at her with his unmoving plastic eyes. "I'm very much a fan of some of the toys you've made. Dynamo especially. Perhaps when we are done here, you can let me play with it?"

"Hey! If it's a Dynamo you want, we can always just build our own!" Morbucks scolded her partner. "Modeled after me, of course. The point of this is to prove that I'm a better Powerpuff than these three, remember?"

"Now, now, Princess, you know you can't blame for getting ahead of myself." Toyman responded to her just as playfully as he'd been with Blossom. "You know I always love having new toys to play with."

"True, but we already have all the toys." Morbucks commented, gazing around with pride and vanity at the many metal beings that shared her face. "So to put it as you would, it's already time to play."

With a snap of her fingers, the Morbucks Toys attacked.

Blossom's first choice of movement was an easily one: go up. Flying upwards forced the robots to change their direction to follow her, causing them to slow down just enough for her to have the edge in immediate speed. Using her heat vision once again, Blossom took out the ones leading the chase against her very easily, though that left the robots behind free to use their fallen sisters as shields to protect them as the swarm split off into two groups, coming at Blossom from two different directions in the sky.

Her speed advantage having come and gone, the Toys finally managed to catch up with her. The machines were only roughly a tenth of Blossom's own strength, though the continuous flurry of tiny metal fists made that an irrelevant point, as every robot Blossom put her fist through simply gave room for another one to launch itself at her, none of the machines having any sort of survival instinct to get in its way.

Between the punches, crown blasts, and even one or two of the robots picking cars up from off the street and throwing them at her, Blossom had quite the battle ahead of her.

But in her favor, she'd fought swarms of enemies before. True, at the moment she didn't have two other people watching her back like she usually did, but she still knew how to deal with them. Especially when it came to robots.

Once Blossom led the Morbucks Toys high enough above the city, she was free of the one thing holding her back: the fact that a University salary would not be enough to repair all the damage she'd have created to the city if she did this next part on the ground.

Floating in place where she was, Blossom spun her body around, slowly going faster and faster until her features could no longer been seen, replaced by a small tornado of near solid pink color.

From out of this vortex a single shot of pink energy was sent out. Whether it'd come from the Powerpuff's eyes or hands or wherever else could not be determined from the outside, just that it was soon followed up by several hundred more, each flying out at a different random angle of the swirling tornado form.

Many Morbucks toys were caught in the attack. They tried to avoid the blasts as best they could but the closer they were to Blossom, the harder that was to accomplish and Blossom had led them in pretty close.

From down below, Morbucks and Toyman watched as their prized playthings blew up, one after another in rapid succession.

"She really is quite good at this." Toyman admired aloud.

"Meh." Morbucks muttered, sticking her nose up to the side.

"Hey now, don't be so glum, chum. After all, plenty more where they came from." Toyman told her as he entered the commands into his controls to open the Toybox robot's lid once again.

Only this time, nothing happened.

"Hm?" Toyman wondered in confusion. Looking from side to side from where he sat into the robot's lock, the villain saw that the metal of the lid had been melted shut, as evidenced by the still slightly moving and dripping melted steel.

Turning the robot's body around to see how this happened, Toyman found himself face to face with the big blue boy scout himself as the alien stared at him through the transparent lock.

"Toyman." Superman said simply as he pushed his hand through the superhardened glass with no difficulty, grabbing Toyman by the collar of his sweater vest and yanking the villain out of the control seat with one solid motion. "I believe you're still supposed to be in Iron Heights."

"But it's no fun in there, Superman." Toyman explained, his childlike façade masking any fear he had of his longtime enemy, even as they both floated a few feet above the street. "You can't play with your toys if they're still in the box."

"Certainly won't be playing with this one anytime soon." Superman remarked as he kicked the Toy Box robot with his foot, his super strength knocking it over on its side quite easily, especially with its creator no longer at its controls.

"True. But that's why all good toys these days come with accessories." Toyman added.

Hearing the whirr of something behind him, Superman turned his body just in time for the jewel on Princess Morbucks' crown to blast him near point-blank in the chest. The power contained in Morbucks' own crown was several times greater than that of any of her toys, as evidenced by the blinding white light that filled up the street around them.

The blast ended and Morbucks beamed with pride over what she'd just done.

She then went bug-eyed when the smoke cleared and she saw she hadn't even made a scratch across his S.

"Wh-…what?" She stammered.

"Hm." Superman grunted as he brushed some of the soot away from his costume. From his tone, she couldn't tell if he was annoyed or amused. "Morbucks, right? Hold on just a minute."

With the rich girl still stunned from her attack having no effect, Morbucks made no move to stop him as Superman floated down towards the fallen Toy Box robot and ripped one of its spider legs off its body, taking the limb and bending and wrapping the metal around Toyman's chest and arms to restrain him, something the man-child showed his great displeasure over.

Leaving Toyman on the street until he could deal with him later, Superman flew back up to Morbucks. "Now, as for you…"

Superman could see the nervous beads of sweat slowly making their way down Morbucks' exposed face, but to her credit, she still held her fist out before her, ready to throw down with him.

"Y-you think I'm scared of you?!" She stammered, putting on a brave face. "I'm not like Live Wire or Volcana or any of those other wimps you fight! I'm on a level past the Powerpuff Girls! I sure as hell can take you on!"

"I'm sure you can." Superman responded calmly. "And the last time I took on someone with the same strength as me we carved a line straight across half of Metropolis. I'd very much like to avoid doing the same to Megaville. So, I'll tell you what: I'll give you one more free hit on me. If it works, then we won't need to destroy the city for you to defeat me. And if it doesn't, maybe that will convince you to give this up. Sound fair?"

Morbucks blinked at the hero's proposal. She clenched her fists a bit tighter in anger, thinking he was not taking her seriously. But, whether she'd admit it or not, she was still a supervillain and certainly not above exploiting her enemy for being stupid. Not to mention how much of a rap she'd get for taking down the man of steel himself along with the Powerpuffs.

"Jeez. You really are as much of a boy scout as I'd heard." Morbucks couldn't help but scoff.

"I'm waiting." Superman said, crossing his arms as he floated before her.

Waiting a second to see if he was actually just going to stay there, Morbucks readied her stance to throw her punch. Her golden gauntlet made a cocking noise almost like that of a gun as her right hand curled into a fist. This was something she wanted to save for one of the Powerpuffs (probably Buttercup, as she'd likely have been the one to tick her off first). The Higgs Fist. Built by Toyman, based off designs stolen from LexCorp, and paid for by her. Interacts with gravity in just such a way that it can mimic almost any amount of mass, from a Frisbee to a freight train, with her suit's own anti-gravity to keep it from affecting her. Imagine it like getting hit by a meteor weaponized.

Just to be cautious, she figured the weapon's highest setting, about two thousand tons, ought to be enough to take him out.

Even after hearing her weapon prime, Superman didn't move a muscle.

With glee over her anticipated victory, Morbucks threw her armored fist forward.

…And was suddenly struck from above by a large wadded up ball of dismembered robot part, smashing her into the ground and knocking her out cold before she ever even touched him.

Superman turned his head towards where the ball had struck from, completely unsurprised to see Blossom floating down towards him. "Figured you'd want to get in the last blow." He smiled warmly.

"You figured right." She retorted in appreciation, having to come to enjoy hitting things with Morbucks' face in the past few minutes. "Though that wasn't a very "boy scout" thing to do."

"You should talk with Aquaman someday. He'll tell you all about subverting people's expectations." He shrugged. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. My coat could be a bit better though. These things never hold up very well to the tornado trick." Blossom said, commenting on the few scattered rips and tears along her lab coat.

"Yeah, I used to have the same problem with my cape. A trick I've learned is to hold the ends in closer to your body before you start spinning."

"Really? Is it because of some kind of funneling effect or more along the lines of the bio-electric aura spreading to the cape? Because either way I suppose it could-"

Blossom cut off her own ramblings suddenly, with both her and Superman quickly turning their heads towards the still bound Toyman.

"Toyman just pressed a button inside his sleeve." She said.

"I heard it too. And I can hear what he just called." Superman said back.

From out of the ground on opposite sides of the street, two more large Toy Box robots burst up from below, both likely on auto-pilot. And just like their fallen box comrade, they contained the same kind of goodies within, as the robots opened up their lids and out spilled hundreds more of the Morbucks Toys.

Blossom and Superman each picked a side of the road to stare down.

"Shall we?" Blossom smiled.

"After you." He smiled back.

A flash of pink and a flash of red and blue soon blazed across both ends of the street.

… **Roughly ten minutes later…**

"And that's the last of them." Blossom breathed as another robot was torn to shreds by her hands while Superman finished off his own pile. All around them bits of metal and robot parts of varying sizes littered the length of the street. Some with the occasional spark or twitch, but all still thoroughly beyond proper function. The surrounding buildings had their fair share of broken windows and occasional missing brick, but thankfully that was the extent of the damage (the street itself was going to be closed for a bit though).

"I'm just glad your former mayor created the Superhuman Damage Control Unit." Superman commented, looking over all the debris. "Can't blame people before for how mad they got about the mess these villain fights create."

"No kidding." Blossom commented as she looked over, thankful to see that Morbucks was still unconscious beneath a pile of robot parts and Toyman was still wrapped in metal, neither going anywhere anytime soon. She turned back to Superman. "Thanks again for coming."

"It's no problem." He replied kindly. "Though I will admit I was surprised to see you call in for League assistance. Don't your sisters usually help you with things like this?"

"Usually, yeah. But Bubbles is off teaching a class right now and I don't know where Buttercup gets off to half the time these days." Blossom admitted. "So when Morbucks wouldn't back down I figured it'd be a good idea to call in backup to end things as quick as possible." Blossom then pulled out her phone to check it. "…Not that it did. Tsk…dammit."

"What the matter?" Superman asked.

Blossom slipped her phone back into her coat, noticeably a bit ticked off. "I was hoping to surprise Mimi and Dexter by taking them out to lunch today." She explained. "But thanks to Morbucks' little vanity project, by the time we'd actually order our food I'll be due back at the university."

"I'm sorry." Superman said sincerely, as was his nature.

Blossom sighed and rubbed her face. "No…it's fine. Comes with the life, you know? Though honestly, if I didn't have bills to pay I'd love to just do what you do."

"What I do?" Superman asked in confusion.

"You know, the whole 24-hour superhero thing." Blossom explained. "Other than whatever you do in that fortress of yours, it must be nice not to have whatever you're doing constantly interrupted by a villain with an axe to grind since, well, you're after them already anyway."

Seeing her point and seeing no real reason to rebuke it, Superman simply smiled and nodded.

"Anyways…" He said, changing the subject. "I imagine you'll need to head back to work soon, so I'll take care of taking in Toyman and Morbucks."

"Are you sure?" Blossom asked, not wanting to push things off on the man. "It's not like I've got any real plans anymore before I'm needed."

"It's fine." He assured her. "Trust me, a little time to yourself is the best way not to let this job get to you. Even 24-hour heroes have to eat and sleep sometime."

"I thought you survived entirely off of solar energy?" Blossom asked pointedly.

"I do." Superman said with a smile. "…But it doesn't taste anywhere near as good as Beef Bourguignon."

And with a smile on that last note, the Kryptonian flew off towards Toyman and Morbucks, picking up the villains in his hands and flying off towards Megaville's main police department.

Blossom watched as he left. "Jeez…maybe Morbucks wasn't kidding about the boy scout thing." She commented, though with much friendlier meaning behind her words and smile than the villain's had been.

Her powers lifting her off the ground, Blossom flew off, flying at a much calmer pace, now that there was no need to rush anymore (though in regards to her family, that was something of a disappointment for her). "…What's Beef Bourguignon?"

So wrapped up in her own thoughts, Blossom had no idea about the pair of pink tinted eyes watching her from the alleyway.

It was these same pair of eyes that'd first witnessed the creation of Blossom and her sisters. The same pair that'd watched them throughout the years as they grew, searching endlessly for anything their owner could use to take the girls down.

This man who was not a man but an ape. An ape by the name of Mojo Jojo.

And there was no doubt in his mind that if Blossom had seen him, she'd have pointed out he'd seen better days.

Though his outfit was the same as it'd ever been, it was also fairly ripped up along his blue vest, with purple tatters along the shoulders, indicating that his once proud flowing cape had been ripped right off. The helmet protecting his enlarged cranium was thankfully okay, but that only meant it did nothing to distract from his swollen blackened eye or the fact that one of his arms was in a sling.

Mojo watched Blossom fly until she finally disappeared from his view. "…Foolish girl." He grunted under his breath. "You have no idea what's coming. …But then again, I suppose you never did."

Mojo turned back into the darkness of the alley and limped away from the main street. "You heroes…always so reactionary."

* * *

… **Later, in Metropolis…**

Lois Lane Kent laid stretched out against the full length of her couch, flipping through her notepad to go back over all the details of her soon to be latest report. She had an actual laptop on the table nearby for when she'd actually submit the full thing, but she still preferred to go over everything by the pen and paper method first. It was how she was taught when she'd first entered the journalist's game and it was how she felt the most comfortable doing it.

As she went over her words and scratched out the sentences that seemed redundant, she heard a familiar gush of wind come through the window in the next room over.

"Hey, Smallville, how many s's in repercussions?" She called out.

"Three." Her husband Clark answered as he walked into the room, buttoning up his shirt over his costume as he made his way towards her. "What are you writing about?"

"Ah, Perry assigned me to get public opinion on the new League members. Said the superhero beat is my specialty." She explained with slight roll of her eyes. "Mind you I'd rather still be investigating Luthor's business dealings now that he's miraculously returned from the dead and taken control of his company again, but he's been pretty quiet lately."

"It won't last." Clark said as he put on his glasses. It was a simple statement but Lois had known him long enough to hear the distain behind his words. There were few people who could get under her husband's indestructible skin quite like Lex Luthor. Especially given his conflicting feelings over the last time he'd even seen the man.

Wanting to get his mind off things, Lois said "You know, if you'd given me a heads up over when your new team was going to make its debut, I could have gotten this report over and done with in an hour."

Clark smiled coyly. "Sorry, but the situations just kind of came up. Besides, it would have looked suspicious if either of the Kent's knew a bit of superhero news that hadn't even happened yet. Especially if Mr. Kent would have submitted his report first before his Pulitzer prize winning wife."

"Oh, you are evil." Lois said, tilting her head back so that she could look at him upside-down.

"Well, I have learned from the best." Clark smirked.

"Yeah, well, a little bit of suspicion on me would be preferable compared to talking with people about what they think of this new team of yours, given some of the people I've had to ask describe them exactly as they would on the internet."

"Oh god."

"Yep. Compared to that, people thinking I might be Wonder Woman or something is a small price to pay."

"Now there's an interesting thought." Clark said playfully.

"Shaddap." Lois responded as she lightly tossed one of the couch's throw pillows at him. Clark let the pillow hit his chest but used his super speed to catch it before it hit the ground. He then bent over and kissed his wife lovingly, before heading over to the door, grabbing his suit jacket from the coat rack, getting ready to leave to pursue his own assignments of the day.

"Oh, by the way, before I forget," Lois called to him before he opened the door. "Bruce called earlier. Asked if you could swing by the cave when you get a chance. Preferably early in the morning when he's done with his public brooding."

"It never fails to amaze me how fast that man works." Clark commented. "I only asked him to look into something for me the other day."

"Multitasking: the one true superpower."

"It certainly isn't something I would mind trading in one or two of my other powers for." He remarked, smiling as he finally left for his other work.

* * *

… **Megaville, at a small house in the suburbs…**

"Alright, Mimi, where do you think this block should go?" Jeff asked.

Mimi pointed towards the top of the small but still impressively sized structure they'd created out of the other wooden blocks. It was meant to resemble a skyscraper, with the thin rectangular block Jeff now placed on top to resemble its needle.

With the structure now what she deemed completed, Mimi quickly ran off to her room, returning soon after carrying two more toys: her stuffed octopus Octi, a gift from her aunt, and a Booster Gold action figure.

"Oh! Is this where Octi and Booster live?" Jeff asked happily.

Mimi shook her head no. She then started to roar as she had the two toys start fighting each other, Booster Gold's fist punching against Octi's felt before Mimi had Octi's limbs wrap around the other toy's body before smacking it against one of the blocks of the wooden tower.

Jeff gave a nervous but still honest laugh, supposing he should have figured as much, given Mimi wasn't the type of girl who liked to play house or tea party.

"Uh… C-careful, Mimi." The spider did say in worry though, as Mimi's roughhousing with her toys was causing the skyscraper to wobble a bit. "We don't want our tower to come crashing down now, do we?"

Mimi paused for a moment and then looked with her eyes off to the side, as though she was pondering his question.

"Mimi…" Jeff said a little more sternly.

The girl gave a simple shrug before she went back to playing with her toys, though going a little easier around the tower, much to Jeff's thanks. Her parents didn't mind them playing in the living room but only so long as they didn't leave a mess, something Jeff was unlikely to do. Not to mention his fear of Mimi getting hurt by the falling blocks.

Speaking of Mimi's parentage, the bookcase off to the side of the room slid across the wall, opening up to reveal the elevator behind, of which Mimi's stepfather Dexter walked out of.

"Oh! Good morn-uh…afternoon, Dexter." Jeff greeted him, realizing the time and how long Dexter had been down in his lab.

"Jeff." Dexter greeted back with a simple nod as he walked towards them. Unsurprising to the scientist, Mimi stopped her playing as soon as she noticed the small thin hoop-like device he carried in his cybernetic hands.

Upon reaching her, Dexter knelt down to be on eye level with the child. "Mimi, could you please hold your hair out of the way so that I can put this on?" He asked, taking care to show politeness to her.

Mimi did take hold of her long hair but only to bunch it up more around her neck.

"I know you don't like having to wear it, Mimi." Dexter told her calmly, wanting to make it clear that he did understand. "But it's not healthy for you to keep staying up without sleep. Your mother and I are getting worried about you and we just want to make sure you'll be ok. Alright?"

Mimi gave her stepfather a small look of angry pouting, but only because his words did cause her to feel slightly guilty.

Finally, she relented and held her hair up away from her neck.

"Thank you." Dexter said. He scooched in a little closer before opening up the hoop and reclosing it around the girl's neck. "I've increased the power of this model and added a little extra padding so that it'll chafe less." He explained as he adjusted the device to properly fit her. Once he was done he moved his hands away so that Mimi could put her hair back down. Looking at one of his arms a small holographic computer screen appeared. "Alright. It seems everything is reading as stable right now, though we won't really know how effective it is until you go to bed tonight."

Mimi poked at her new collar, her face showing her clear distaste for the device being on her once again. But even for a three-year-old, Mimi had a good head on her shoulders and knew it was best to simply accept her position, sitting down and going back to playing with her toys.

That now out of the way, Dexter stood back up, taking off his glasses so that his fingers could rub his tired eyes.

"Speaking of sleep, maybe you should get some yourself, Dexter." Jeff suggested, showing his worry. "You've been down in your lab ever since we got home from the Watchtower. You need to rest."

"I don't need rest anymore, Jeff." Dexter stated simply as he used the opportunity to wipe his glasses, his uncovered face revealing his solid black and neon blue eyes. "My implanted fuel cells can keep my body energized for a full 48 hours and they're still at a 78.6% charge."

"That's not what I mean." Jeff explained. "You're pushing yourself too hard. You and Blossom both are."

"And on that I agree with half of what you said." Dexter commented as he put his glasses back on. "Blossom most certainly is pushing herself too hard and needs to take a break. I, on the other hand, am perfectly fine."

"Dexter…"

"I'm. Fine." The scientist repeated, making it clear that this conversation was over. Turning back the way he came in, Dexter got back into the elevator. "If you lay her down for a nap, make sure you let me know." Dexter told him. "I want to make sure to monitor the collar's readings."

And without another word, the bookcase slid back into its original position, as Dexter returned down below to his laboratory.

Jeff gave a sigh and turned back to Mimi, whom was no longer playing. Just sitting on the floor with a look of sad guilt across her face.

One thing Jeff supposed about most human adults is that they didn't quite understand how the mind of a child worked (at least, that's one of the many excuses he gave for his own father). True, most kids Mimi's age were not developed enough to fully understand the world around them, but they could be pretty good at gaging when someone around them is upset.

And unfortunately, it seemed like Mimi thought she was the reason why that was.

"Come on, Mimi." Jeff said with a kind voice as he gently picked her and placed her in her favorite spot on his back. "I'll clean up the mess later. What you say I make you some muffins?"

* * *

… **Elsewhere in Megaville…**

"And one and two and one and two and…time! Alright everyone, that's it for today." Bubbles said as she finished her set.

She then heard a series of collective WHUMPS behind her.

The blond Powerpuff turned around and saw the entirety of her class had collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily.

" _Oops."_ She said internally as she gave a slightly guilty laugh, rubbing the back of her head. Though she was less "bubbly" now than she had been in her youth, she'd sometimes still forget that her students were not transhuman like she was and end up pushing them a little too hard when she becomes lost in thought during lessons, given that they had no chance of keeping up with her.

"Sorry about that, class." Bubbles apologized, helping those nearest to her up while others simply used the dance rail. "We're not going to have class again until next week so do get some rest until then. Oh! But still remember to get some practice in! You don't want to fall behind."

In spite of their exhausted mutterings Bubbles was relieved to see that many of the girls still looked like they enjoyed the lesson. They were all making great strides in perfecting in their form and technique and it always brought something of a large blush to her face when her students thanked her personally for their improvement.

Not that she did this job for the praise, of course, and certainly not just for the money. Bubbles had simply always loved to dance and teaching it to others was simply another excuse to.

In fact it was something she couldn't help but comment to herself on as she gazed around the slowly emptying studio as her student headed for the locker room to change out of their tutus. It was in this very studio where she'd practiced herself throughout the entirety of elementary and middle school. When she wasn't out saving the world with her sisters or catching up on homework that'd slipped her mind until the last possible minute, she could be found here, dancing away to her hearts content until she wore holes through the polished floor (sometimes literally).

She never could have imagined that she'd actually be teaching here someday. Not that she minded that in the least.

After wiping of some of the sweat off the railing and occasional fingerprints off the large dance mirror, Bubbles walked over to a chair that sat on the other side of room, right next to which laid the only thing that could sometimes completely distract her serious dance-loving students: her adorable little pink dog Courage, dozing away as he "guarded" Bubbles' purse, which sat on the chair.

Hearing her approach, Courage woke up, giving a wide yawn. Bubbles scratched him lovingly behind the ears to greet him, much to the canine's delight. Afterwards she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, checking to see if she had any messages.

There were none, and it was a few seconds later that Courage saw the familiar look of sadness that crept over his owner's face whenever she didn't see what she wanted on that screen.

Closing her messages and opening up another app, Bubbles scrolled through her contact list.

The one she stared at for the longest time was the fourth one down on the list, just after both her sisters and the Professor.

It read Mandy.

Tapping the screen, Bubbles called the number.

" _You're resigning as mayor?!" Bubbles exclaimed._

" _That is exactly what I just said, yes." The long blond haired woman replied simply as she continued to pack up her office._

" _But you love being mayor!" Bubbles said, trying to figure out why her friend was making such as drastic decision._

" _I love being in a position of power, with the authority to use said power. And it just so happens that I've been presented with an opportunity for a position even higher than that of mayor. …Or perhaps lower would be more the correct term?" Mandy explained as she took her awards and degrees off the wall to box them up._

" _Like what, governor? President?" Bubbles asked as she watched her pack._

" _Oh please, don't insult me." Mandy commented evenly. "You know my imagination is bigger than that."_

" _But then what-?"_

" _Let's just say that I'm still working out the details of my new position." Mandy said. "Look, maybe we can talk more about this when I get back from my…business, let's call it…in Hawaii. Sound good?"_

 _Bubbles folded her arms, still hesitant about the whole thing. "I just…I just want to make sure you're okay. Usually when people make dramatic changes to their life, it's usually because something's wrong or something bad happened."_

 _Mandy looked at her with the same eyes half open stare that she gave everyone, a look that was meant to convey nothing. But if Bubbles didn't know any better, she'd almost think that Mandy was slightly touched by her concern._

" _Well, I certainly do appreciate the thought." Mandy said evenly. "But you don't have anything to worry about. I may not have superpowers but you know full well that I can take care of myself._

" _But…" She then added, catching Bubbles' attention. "If you really are that worried, just do me a favor and keep my city in one piece for me until I get back, alright? All the other new heroes popping up these day will probably fuck it all up otherwise."_

 _That at least finally did manage to allay some of the Powerpuffs concerns. "You can count on me!" She said proudly with a smile._

That was four years ago and the last time Bubbles ever saw her friend again.

Currently Mandy was considered a missing persons case. But after such a long period of time, most had given up looking for her, saying that she more than likely was…not among the living anymore, as they tried to gently break it to her.

During the investigation they'd checked with Hawaiian tourism and Mandy had indeed vacationed there for a few days, along with some blond man listed in the registry as Joe Black. They looked but couldn't find him either.

No account activity. No ransom demands. And no body.

For all intents and purposes, Mandy seemed to have just vanished from the face of the Earth.

Every week to every couple of days, depending on what was going on, Bubbles would call her number, in the vain hope that maybe she'd pick up on the other end.

And this time, like every time before it, the phone on the other end just kept ringing.

Courage gave a whine as he watched his master just stand and listen to ringing as endless minutes seemed to go by, looking like she was about to cry.

" _Mandy, where are you?"_

* * *

… **Elsewhere: University of Wisconsin…**

Danny laid with his back against his bed, staring up at the ceiling of his on-campus apartment, completely lost in thought.

He was then brought back to earth by the spine of a textbook bonking him lightly in the nose.

"Come on, Danny. Time to focus." His girlfriend Sam, whose lap his head was currently laid back in, told him well-meaningly. "You asked me to come over and help you study for your engineering final, and now that we've gotten past the obligatory temptation make-out, we actually do need to study."

Danny rubbed his nose and sat back up. "Sorry, Sam. Guess I've got a lot on my mind."

"League stuff?" She asked, hitting the nail on the head.

Danny nodded his head, noticeably looking a bit troubled. "Yeah, it's just…I don't know…I'm wondering if maybe joining the League was a mistake."

"Really?" Sam asked, genuinely surprised by his admission. "You practically shot out of your jumpsuit when you got the invitation."

"Yeah, I know I was excited at first but…" Danny said hesitantly. "Sam, these are guys who've literally saved the entire world hundreds of times over."

"Danny, you've saved the entire world before." Sam pointed out to him.

"Yeah, once. From a giant rock. And we were only able to do that by getting the help of literally everyone we know." Danny retorted. Not angrily or anything but more to justify his feelings of inadequacy. "These guys…they've fought entire armies, alien invasions, demons for other dimensions. Heck, even just supervillains powerful enough to level cities. I don't have supervillains! I just fight ghosts with too much time on their hands and usually with grudges against me personally! Even the one guy I took out when I was with the League was just another ghost (admittedly one I'd never seen before). Closest I've ever had to a real supervillain was Plasmius and we haven't even seen him in years."

"Danny…" Sam said softly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Danny felt the warmth of her palm on him and placed his own hand over hers to show his appreciation, though his mood was still quite down.

"I just…with all these other heroes…even the other new recruits…with all the incredible things they can do and how much experience they have over me…I just feel like maybe I'm in over my head."

Danny sat with his face pointed towards the floor. Sam had known him for a long time and she always hated seeing him get so down on himself. After he revealed his secret identity to the public Danny thankfully knew better than to let his newfound fame go to his head like it would for some others. But, unfortunately, the opposite problem emerged. He'd always beat himself up a little too much when he screwed up in the past, something enemies like Spectra had used against him once or twice, but lately there had had been several times where Danny became really hard on himself, feeling like he wasn't living up to people's expectations of him. She, Tucker, and of course Danny's family all did their best to assure him that they were with him no matter what, but Danny still seemed to have this fear of letting people down.

Sam couldn't help but wonder if other superheroes had the same kind of problem. In a way, she kind of hoped they did, because at least it would help Danny feel a little better about how he was doing.

And then an idea came to her.

"…Have you been up to that satellite of theirs yet? The…what was it called? The Watchtower?" She asked.

Danny looked up at her. "No, not really. Not yet."

"Really? You, the biggest astronaut fanboy I know, haven't been up to Justice League's orbiting space station since being given basically a free pass to do so?" Sam asked questionably.

"I'm not an astronaut fanboy." Danny defended, slightly offended.

"Do you still own the NASA themed boxers your parents gave you for Christmas?" Sam asked with a raised knowing eyebrow.

Danny was silent for a moment. "Moving on…" He segwayed. "The closest I've been to the actual inside of the station was when they used it as a relay to teleport me and the others from Metropolis to Tokyo, so I didn't get a good look. Also, not how I thought my first trip to Tokyo would go."

"Well, maybe you should go up there and visit." Sam suggested.

"What? Why?" Danny asked.

"Because I doubt you're the first member they've ever had whose felt like they didn't belong." Sam explained herself. "They used to have a lot more members before, right? Some who were even younger than you. Heck, they had a guy with a green Robin Hood gimmick and another whose power was that he could stretch. Just stretch. Maybe if you go up there and talk with some of them, or even just see things the way they do, maybe you'll see why they believe you should be on the team and why they picked you over anyone else."

Danny rubbed the back of his head, his girlfriend's words actually making him feel a little better. "Well…I suppose it couldn't hurt." He shrugged.

"Trust me, Danny, it will." Sam smiled. "Even these guys have to put their spandex pants on one leg at a time. Well…those of them that wear pants, of course."

His spirits feeling surprisingly lifted a bit, Danny gave a small smile as he reopened his textbook, with his mind's attention mostly focused on remembering how League told him to access the Watchtower.

A thought then crossed his mind.

"…You just want me to introduce you to Batman, don't you?" Danny asked her knowingly.

Sam shrugged as she leaned back against the bed's pillow. "People can have more than one reason for doing things." She replied, partially hiding her smirk behind the cover of her book.

"Oh…I can agree to that." Danny said back with his own cocky smirk as he started to climb over her.

"Danny, we do really need to study." Sam reminded him, though with a smile still splashed across her face.

"Yes. Yes we do." Danny agreed simply.

And the two made out anyway.

* * *

… **Earth's orbit: JLU Watchtower…**

The door to the satellite's central monitor room slid open and J'onn J'onzz stepped inside.

"I thought Flash was supposed to be on monitor duty with you today." He asked Shayera, whom sat at the controls.

"Oh, he is." The former Hawkgirl commented as she pointed out the red blur speeding all across the Watchtower on the screens. "That's one of the reasons I like being on duty with him."

The Martian gave her a questioning look, not quite getting what she meant.

"What I mean is, with how often the League's just suddenly just pulled into some large scale invasion or some other random hoopla, our headquarters tends to skip out on some much needed maintenance and our up-to-date information slowly becomes not that at all." She explained. "When Wally's on monitor duty with another member, he does all that almost instantly just to make the time go by."

"I see." J'onn said, remember back to years ago when it was just him on constant monitor duty and how rarely he could get other things done either.

A sudden gust of wind then pushed the Manhunter's cape forward as the Flash slid into the room. "Alright, I've double-checked the monitors for other dimensional breaches, installed the new teleportation stabilizers, updated the active alien registry given to use by the Plumbers, cleaned the gunk out of the keyboards, checked the League emergency contacts with 193 nations including Atlantis and Gorilla city, updated the registry of active and captive super-criminals twice, checked to see if Amazo was anywhere near the Milky Way, vacuumed the Watchtower, and switched Power Girl back to reserve membership as per her request. Please tell me SOMETHING has happened." Flash begged.

Shayera checked the monitor. "Well, there was a situation a little bit ago in Megaville involving Princess Morbucks and Toyman."

"Yeah?" Flash asked hopefully.

"…But Superman and Blossom already have taken care of it." She informed him.

Flash sighed. "Of course they did."

And just like that, the fastest man alive was gone from the room.

"Even for Wally, it is unusual to see him so anxious." J'onn commented as the speedster's wind brushed past him.

"Yeah, but I don't blame him." Shayera admitted. "From what Wally's told me, it's the costume. When he's in it he wants to run. To move. To hit bad guys, basically. Not do paperwork or sit still staring a screen for a few hours. I'd say it's just a Flash thing but I'm pretty sure Bruce and Clark have the same problem. Guess that's just one of the things you deal with when your work clothes are different than your regular ones, unlike us I suppose."

"I wear other things." J'onn said.

Shayera gave him a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"…Sometimes." He added.

"Uh huh." Shayera nodded, small hint of smugness with her point being proven. "By the way, you feeling any better? The last time I saw you, you were kind of wobbly."

"Yes. I am feeling much better. Thank you." J'onn said. "As I said before, I do not think Mimi meant any harm by her sudden linkage into my mind. More than likely she simply did not know her own strength, which is unsurprising for a child."

"Still, that's kind of an interesting power for the kid to have." Shayera commented. "I mean, with that great big grab-bag of powers that her mom and aunts have, where does the sudden telepathy come from? Does Dexter have maybe some latent metahuman gene?"

"Possible, though it's unlikely the cause." J'onn explained. "When Batman and I were investigating him we went through his records. He's listed as Mimi's step father, with no information regarding her biological father whatsoever. I suspect it's because of that that Batman is still investigating into it."

"They're probably just trying to avoid a scandal." Shayera theorized, trying to be understanding. "You remember how much the media hounded Firestorm after what happened between him and Killer Frost. I can't imagine what they'd do to Blossom and her daughter if it turned out the father was some controversial figure."

"Not that Batman of all people would go to the press if he found anything."

"Very true."

"Yes…still…as strange as it may sound, it was something of a nostalgic feeling to have another inside my mind again." J'onn admitted. "Not counting supervillains trying to kill me, the last time I remember it happening was when I taught my own children how to use their powers. …As long ago as that was."

The Martian went quiet and his expression became stone faced after he finished his words. Having known her friend for quite a while now, it wasn't hard to guess what recent tragedy of the many he'd had in his life he was thinking about.

"Hey, J'onn…if you still need more time off, we can make that work." Shayera told him, the empathy clear in her voice. "You don't have to help us train in these new recruits if you're not feeling up to it."

"You are referring to the recent passing of my wife." J'onn said evenly.

"It's only been a couple of months, J'onn. No one would blame you for not being ready to go back on duty." Shayera said.

At her words, J'onn gave a small sad but still honest smile to his teammate. "Yes. It has been…difficult…since Mizore passed. But…it is because of that that I feel I should be here more." He explained. "When My'ria'h and our children were killed during the Imperium's invasion of Mars, I was given no time to mourn. And when the invasion was finally over, I was given five hundred years to do so alone. For all that time, I thought that was to be my life forever.

"But since joining the League, I was able to deal more with my grief in the few years I'd know you all than in the many hundred I'd spent alone. And in the few years I was able to spend in China with Mizore before she passed away in her sleep, I felt more connected to humanity than I ever did when I shunned the world by staying up here. I am far from over my grief of her passing, but I'd be disrespecting everything she and you all have done for me over the years by dealing with it alone again."

Shayera could tell the mere memories of his past caused the Martian great pain and it was because of this pain that she gave him a comforting smile back, to show that she understood, knowing full well the pain of never being able to go back to what she once loved.

"Well then, why don't you pull up a seat. J'onn?" She offered him kindly. "I imagine Flash and I could use the company."

J'onn smiled back. "I'd be happy to."

As he went to take his seat alongside her at the other monitor, Shayera then added "Though I can't promise that Wally won't beg you to play Brawlin' Bots with him again."

"That is fine." J'onn said simply. "…As long as I get the green one, of course.

"Of course."

* * *

Flash meanwhile was speeding all across the Watchtower, rag in hand, desperate for something to help pass the time. Coming across another set of windows looking down at the Earth, he wiped his finger across one of them to see how dirty it was.

"And here I thought dust was the one thing you could count on, even in space." He commented with a sigh as his red glove didn't show even a hint of filth on it.

But, seeing as he had nothing better to do, Flash gave the windows a quick super speed polish once-over, getting the reinforced glass to shine in less than a few seconds.

"And Linda says I never do any housework." He boasted proudly as he admired his work. He was about to run off to someplace else in the Watchtower, but then he saw something that caused him to trip over backwards in his surprise.

Floating right outside the window, in the vacuum of space, was a man in a purple cloak.

"Whoa!" Flash yelped as he fell over. Taking less than a millisecond to recover, the speedster was back on his feet, but outside the window, the man was now gone.

" _That…that's not possible."_ Flash commented to himself as he pressed up against the window look up and down for where the stranger could have gone. For him, due to his powers and especially when he's active in the suit, everything seems to move in slow motion, thus why he wasn't constantly smashing his face against walls and cars when he ran. If the man had left or even just turned invisible, Flash should have seen him go.

But he didn't. One second the man was there and the second he was simply not.

The most obvious answer to how this could possibly be was that the man was not human, something Flash quickly put together from the brief bit of the stranger he'd seen.

The blue spectral tail in place of legs and the pendulum clock embedded in the stranger's chest certainly helped to back up this theory.

After looking and finding nothing, Flash said to himself "Was it just a trick of the light? Maybe just my reflection? …Right, because my reflection is notorious for looking like the Smurf version of Father Time." Commenting on the coloring of the stranger's skin.

He then ran off to tell the others.

* * *

… **The town of Tremorton…**

There was a knock on the door to the Wakeman household.

"Bradly, could get that please?" A woman's voice called from the other room.

"Sure thing, Mrs. Wakeman." Brad called back to her as he answered the front door. "Hey there, how can we help-…..whoa."

Standing before him on the front steps and well over a foot taller that the already lengthy redhead was the princess of the Amazons herself, Diana of Themyscira, aka Wonder Woman.

"Hello." She greeted him with a polite smile. "Sorry to just suddenly drop in, but are either of the Wakeman's home right now?"

It took quite a few seconds before her words registered to the man's awestruck mind. "Uh…yeah…they're…they're in….in the back…in the lab…"

"Thank you." Diana said, bowing her head slightly in gratitude. She moved past him and entered into the home, though once she got further in she turned her head and noticed Brad was still holding the door open and staring completely still at the outside neighborhood. "Are you going to come in too?" She asked.

"No…no, I think I'm just going to stand here for a minute…" Brad replied without looking back, his words conveying a subtle astonishment as his body felt like it could barely move.

Wonder Woman gave a simple shrug and moved forward. Walking along the home it wasn't too difficult to figure out where the lab was, as she spotted flickers of light coming from inside one of the rooms, lighting up the shadows outside its doorway.

Standing in the doorframe, the Amazon looked inside. Within was the white-haired Dr. Nora Wakeman, famed inventor of the XJ series of robotics. Wearing a pair of red tinted goggles that lit up with each spark, the doctor stood hard at work over the body of her greatest creation/daughter Jenny, whom laid spread out on the table slab before her.

Finally bringing her tools up from Jenny's open chest and ending the sparking, Nora asked "How's that?"

Jenny lifted up her left hand and curled her fingers one after another. "Looks good." She said.

Nora gave a happy sigh, lifting up her goggles (only to reveal a pair of glasses the exact same color underneath) to indicate that they were finished. "Hopefully this little experience will teach you to be more careful next time." She commented to her daughter.

Jenny gave a slightly annoyed moan as she sat up on the table. "Come on, mom, it was a giant robot version of a nuclear bomb. What was I supposed to-…WONDER WOMAN!" She suddenly exclaimed as she saw Diana in the doorway. She quickly slammed her armor plating shut over her exposed circuits and if Diana didn't know better she could almost swear the girl's metallic cheeks were becoming flushed in embarrassment.

Moving slowly to be respectful, Diana entered the room. "My apologies for coming by unannounced, but Shayera asked if I could check in to see how you're doing and your communicator was off."

Unlike her slightly flustered daughter, Dr. Wakeman couldn't have been more happy to see the hero. "Oh, no, no, it's no trouble at all! Please, come in." The woman greeted her excitedly, waving for her to come closer to the table. Removing her gloves so that she could give Diana a proper handshake, she stated proudly "Dr. Noreen Wakeman, at your service."

"It's a privilege to meet you, doctor." Diana replied, shaking her hand. "My mother has told me a lot about you."

"Oh, yes. How is old Hippolyta?" Dr. Wakeman asked reminiscently. "Back when I worked with Skyway Patrol I was one of the few people lucky enough to visit that island of yours before you opened up borders to man's world. Your mother and I were quite the team during that mission, let me tell you (honestly, a Robo-Hydra? One would think an advanced invading alien force would be more creative)."

As the good doctor started to remember more of the old days, Diana turned to Jenny. "How are feeling, Jenny?" She asked.

Having gotten over her initial shock and embarrassment of the Amazon seeing her in her previously exposed state, Jenny was a bit more warm towards her. "A lot better. Certainly not feeling as melted as I was before."

"I can imagine, given what Green Lantern told me about what happened." Diana commented. "If you still need more time to recover, the League will certainly understand."

Jenny shook her head. "No. Thanks but no thanks. I mean, I didn't exactly join the League to just sit on my butt…er…on the sidelines while everyone else does the heavy lifting. Besides, Bubbles practically begged me to accept the invite when you guys reached out to her too. I'd probably never be able to get her to leave my bedside if I start sitting out missions."

"I see your point." Diana conceded kindly, recalling her own experience working with the more impassioned of the three Powerpuffs during the cleanup of Tokyo. The girl had been almost ecstatic to work with her and had bombarded her with a constant stream of questions and friend requests. Had it been anyone else even Diana would have been annoyed, but through all of it Bubbles had also been darting around the city every way she could go, concerned over everyone and genuinely wanting to help as many people as possible. She was a very easy person to like and Diana could see why Jenny didn't want the girl needlessly fussing over her. "We'll be sure not to keep you out of the loop should anything pop up then."

"Thanks." Jenny gave a nod of her head in gratitude before getting off the table. "Well then, now that that's all out of the way, Brad and I are heading out to the movies. We've been waiting weeks to see Nighthawk V Hyperion and he promised to take me once my repairs were done. …Uh…my repairs are done, right mom?" Jenny asked her mother, practically pleading with her eyes.

Dr. Wakeman almost gave a chuckle at her daughter's face and decided to give her a break. "Yes, yes, it's fine. You and Bradly go on and have good time. I'll clean up here."

"Thanks, mom!" Jenny said excitedly. She was about to run out of the room, but her mother stopped her for a moment.

"Wait, X-J9. Aren't you forgetting something?" Dr. Wakeman said playfully, holding her cheek out to her.

The redness of Jenny's own metallic cheeks returned. "Mommm…." Jenny moaned in embarrassment, casting a glance over at Wonder Woman.

"Hmm?" Nora replied, smiling and feigning ignorance of the situation.

Jenny's eyes darted back and forth between the two women, finally giving in and giving her mother a quick peck on the cheek before bolting out of the room, face completely crimson. "Kaythanksmombye!" Was the last mess of words the two older women heard from the robot as she raced out the front door, grabbing her friend Brad (whom still had been standing with the gawking look on his face) as her back wings unfolded and the two blasted off into the sky.

Dr. Wakeman did nearly burst out laughing as she turned back towards Wonder Woman. "You'll have to forgive me. Parental duty and all dictates I have to embarrass my daughter in front of her new teammates at least once."

"I understand." Diana replied, having looked away before to help ease Jenny's misery. "Though you have just made me very grateful that I rarely ever bring any of the League over to Themyscira."

"Oh, I can only imagine how much of a sadist Hippolyta would be, given how much she wanted a daughter when I met her." Dr. Wakeman chuckled as she started putting her tools away. "Not that I'm one to talk, of course. My daughter may be made out of metal rather than clay but I still wanted one enough that I went out and built one."

Diana couldn't help but notice that the older woman's eyes glanced over to Jenny's blueprints that sat nearby the operating table and how lovingly and pride filled the doctor looked at them. "You must be very proud of her." The amazon commented.

"Oh, I am, I am." Dr. Wakeman replied, Diana now noticing a twinge of sadness entering her voice before the woman looked away from the prints. "…Actually, Diana, I'm glad you're here. There's…something I've been meaning to talk with someone about and I think my daughter's friends are too close to her for me to be able to go to them first."

"What is it?"

Dr. Wakeman seemed like she was slightly hesitant to start her words. "It's just that…I'm worried about her. She's been coming in more and more lately for repairs, usually with the damage being continuously worse than the last. Dealing with Brimstone with the League I can understand, but losing an arm to Space Bikers or having a hole ripped through her torso while dealing with common UFOs? My little X-J9 has always been a bit reckless but lately it seems like she's not even registering any danger. I've tried talking with her about it but she insists that everything is fine."

"Do you know when this problem started?" Diana asked.

Dr. Wakeman shook her head. "No. I started really noticing it a few months ago but I couldn't say if that's when this carelessness started. At first I thought it was a problem with her new CPU chip. Her old one was heavily damaged after some fool rebuilt Armagedroid and I had to build a new one to replace it. I checked and rechecked it thoroughly, making sure that all her memories and experiences had been properly downloaded so that she wouldn't be missing anything. I even built another chip for her, just in case I was missing something and the replacement had been corrupted somehow, but even after that nothing changed. I've rechecked her blueprints for any faults, run joint test, upgraded her armor metal to a kind with greater strength and yet still…and still…"

Diana placed a caring hand on the woman's shoulder, stopping her before she broke down. "I'll keep an eye on her, Dr. Wakeman, and help her however I can. I promise."

Lifting her tinted glasses up for a moment so that she could wipe away a few tears that'd started to well up in her eyes, all the woman could say was "….Thank you, Diana. …Jenny's all I have. I can't imagine what I'd do if something were to happen to her."

* * *

… **Dakota City: First National Bank…**

With a blinding flash of light, the doors to the building were reduced to shrapnel, as the villain within made his way down the bank's main steps, his white metal gauntlet still shining with bright beautiful power. The black and white suited man patted the duffel bag around his shoulder proudly, feeling the sacks of hard cash within.

"Finally, an easy score for once." Doctor Light said aloud to himself, his eyes keeping watch for any cops that might soon show up to the scene. "This little city, so used to dealing with simple thugs and run of the mill metahumans. They never stood a chance against a man of true supervillain genius and power, such as that of the great Doctor Light! MHA HA HA HA HA H-!"

The evil doctor's monologue was quickly interrupted by the crash of a green energy construct into the ground before him. The construct spread out around him, forming large thick green walls to box him in on all sides. Before he could even react, electricity seemed to start flowing through Light's entire suit before his metal covered boots clamped together, followed soon after by his gauntlets, with Light unable to get either pair to separate again.

Looking upwards through the open ceiling of his green prison, the villain saw the cause of all this, the two figures of Green Lantern and Static floating above him, their eyes each lit up with their power's respective colors as they looked down on him.

"I give up!" The doctor exclaimed quickly, throwing his bound hands up in the air to signal his surrender. But due to his sudden movement, Light lost his balance and fell right over onto his face.

… **Five minutes later…**

As the police finished stripping Doctor Light of his tech and finally took him away, Static and Green Lantern took off towards the sky.

"A bit much for just one guy, isn't it?" Static quipped as his hoverdisc followed closely behind the Lantern's green energy trail.

"Maybe, but Light was dangerous once. Best not to take any chances." John replied. "Besides, trust me, you work with the League for long enough, you start to really appreciate the smaller scale stuff. I'd take rescuing a cat out of tree over going another round with Brimstone any day of the week."

"I'll be sure to mention that to Gear next time he asks me to take him up to the Watchtower." Static remarked with a smirk. "That being said, he is looking forward to seeing how well he does on the solo hero gig when I'm out of town for the League."

"Heh." The Lantern gave a chuckle.

"What? I think he can handle it." Static remarked.

"No, no, it's not that." John said. "Solo hero work. I honestly can't remember the last time I ever worked a case solo."

"Really?" Static asked as he flew around him.

Green Lantern nodded. "Be it the Marines, the Corps, or the League I've pretty much always had a team at my back. Especially during the League's Unlimited days. Not that I mind it, mind you. It's nice having someone to watch out for you, though Guy and Hal might say otherwise."

"Actually, speaking of teams," Static added as the two men flew just high enough above the city buildings so that they could still see what was going on at the ground below. "I'm kind of surprised you weren't with the other half of yours back in Metropolis. Figured you'd want to make sure I wasn't going to be overwhelmed on my first day."

"I knew you could handle it." The Lantern replied with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"Because the others were there, too?"

"Static, I didn't request for you to be on the League to be my sidekick." John explained, pausing his flight so that the two of them could hang in the air for a minute. "Even when I first met you, you weren't exactly a newbie at this and if I recall it was you who saved me. The original seven might have been here first but when you're on the team with us, you're our teammate and nothing less. Got it?"

Static floated in air in silence, almost completely stunned by his longtime hero's words.

"I…uh…wow. Thanks…" Static said, rubbing the back of his head as he didn't know what else to say. "That another one of those League lessons you learned over time?"

John smiled. "Corps lesson, actually. Katma and Kilowog are never going to let me live down how stiff I was when I was first given the ring."

"You? Stiff? Nooo…"

"Oh, hush up, and keep up." John quipped back as the two resumed their flight.

Static, feeling more at ease, followed close behind. But a moment later, on of the corner of his eye he saw a small twinkle of yellow light.

The electromagnetic hero paused where he was and looked back. John noticed this and stopped too.

"Everything alright?" He asked.

Static looked over towards the area where he'd seen the glint but this time saw nothing, now not even entirely sure why the light had attracted his attention so much in the first place.

"Yeah, yeah…I'm just…no. No, it was probably just my eyes playing tricks on me." He finally replied, figuring that's what it must have been, as he could not see anything unusual around them. "Sorry. Let's go." He apologized before flying back the way they were going. Green Lantern raised an eyebrow at the whole thing but said nothing and simply flew along with him.

A few more minutes later and those in the area could not even see the two heroes in the distance anymore.

Another minute later and the yellow glint of light flew through the sky in the opposite direction.

* * *

… **On a mountain range in peaceful eastern Japan…**

The fabric of Jack's pack against his back made a rhythmic shifting noise against his robe with each step he took along the mountain's path. Looking over the edge the samurai could see the surrounding hillside and regions poking up above fog and clouds as the sun lit up their green plains with incredible color.

Contentedly, Jack closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of air though his nose before releasing it slowly. "Though the cities and structures of today's world are a marvel in and of themselves, we must never forget to have appreciation for what nature herself has provided."

"Mm hmm…" Muttered Buttercup as she came trudging up the trail behind him, carrying her own pack and clearly not as invested in their hike as her teacher was.

Still though, Jack smiled at her nonetheless, proud of her for her patience. With her incredible speed she could have traversed up and down this mountain over a hundred times by now and in her youth very would have, just to relieve her boredom.

But she was older now and with it wiser, and though it would still sometimes come at his insistence, Buttercup knew the value of taking their time.

"This seems like as good a place as any to take our rest." Jack commented as they made their way onto the grass near the path.

Setting his pack down carefully, Jack unfurled a collected bundle of sticks and arranged them properly on the ground, forming a small structured pile. He then started digging through his pack, pulling out a metal teapot and a few cups before continuing to look through it.

"I know I put those flint stones in here somewhere." Jack mumbled. "Now where could they-!"

Jack was startled out of his rummaging by the sticks suddenly bursting into flames, courtesy of Buttercup's heat vision as she roughly plopped her butt down next to him by the fire.

To this, Jack gave a simple shrug. "Or that works too." He said, pulling the remaining supplies out of his pack.

After setting up a proper stand so that the filled teapot could hang above the fire, Jack went to work grinding the tea leaves. Though as he did this he couldn't help but notice Buttercup simply sitting cross-legged with her fist to her chin, gazing out into the mountain distance with an irritable expression on her face.

"Buttercup, my student, what troubles you?" Jack asked her sincerely. "You usually at least enjoy grinding the tea leaves with me."

Buttercup blinked for a moment, as though so lost in thought that she'd forgotten he was there. "Uh…sorry, sensei. I guess…I guess I've just got a lot on my mind." She explained.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Jack asked her.

Buttercup was silent for a minute, internally debating whether she should.

"…I was in Gotham City the other day." She finally said.

"Ah." Jack said in realization.

"Oh, just wait. It gets even better…"

* * *

… _ **Two days ago, Gotham's Children's Hospital…**_

 _Amongst the torrents of rain that continuously hammered the building, one lone window slid open, giving way for a black clad figure to slip silently inside._

 _Batman closed the window quietly behind him, taking stock of his surroundings as he did so. There was a security camera in the corner of the room that was thankfully not turned towards him yet. Taking a small pen-like device out from his belt, he shot a small spherical dart at the side of the camera. A second later and the dart shot a quick bit of electricity through the camera, indicating it'd done its task. From what the lab had told him, the device hacks the camera and pauses it on the last image taken. Not perfect but certain to raise less suspicion than destroying the camera outright._

 _Looking around to the rest of the room, he could see that it was a fairly standard double patient room, with a TV bolted to the wall above a set of medicine cabinets and across from it a pair of twin sized hospital beds, each with a sheet draped over them to cover what was clearly a small humanoid form._

 _It was something he hated about how this job made him think, that hopefully these children had been dead before this horror started._

 _Jonathan Crane, aka, The Scarecrow had escaped from Arkham Asylum months ago. Trying as hard as they might, neither Batman or the cops could find where he went. And fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, even he didn't have a dark enough imagination to guess that the mad doctor had made his new hideout here._

 _Figuring Crane must have been hiding for months in the boiler room beneath the hospital in order to go unnoticed for so long (the psychopath would love the horror movie appeal of that spot), it wasn't a secret he could have kept up forever._

 _Not that Batman believed he ever wanted to. Scarecrow was all about instilling and studying new methods of fear and what could instill more fear in the countless parents of Gotham than finding out over the news that their children are trapped in the same building as a real-life boogieman. Even if he hadn't been discovered by two unfortunate custodians who alerted the rest of the staff, Scarecrow would have made his move eventually._

 _Crane's statement to the police over the phone had been simple. Any cops or SWAT try to approach the building and instead of taking his time with his "patients" he'll gas the entire building at once, giving them all the idea of the work he'd been doing here for the past few months._

 _The fact that Crane hadn't mentioned him specifically gave Batman the unfortunate information that the doctor was already expecting him, possibly even wanting him to be here._

 _Finishing his visual scan of the room and indicating there were no hidden surveillance devices to worry about giving him away, Batman was about to leave the room and search the key areas of the hospital when he then saw a small bit of motion underneath one of the beds._

 _Hands hidden under his cape and near his belt, Batman moved cautiously forward to investigate, the material of his boots muffling his footsteps to be almost perfectly silent._

 _Crouching quickly to avoid anyone getting the first move in on him, the man peered under the bed._

 _And found a small child underneath, balled up in practically the fetal position as his arms kept his face covered while he shivered terribly. The child was a boy, likely not more than five or six years old as far as the hero could tell, and though his stone face didn't show it, he was relieved to see that there was at least one confirmed child who'd managed to get away from Crane._

 _When nothing happened the boy snuck a peek between his arms, with Batman unsurprised to see that his presence did little to allay the boy's fears as the child immediately went right back to covering in his little ball shape._

 _Waiting another minute for the boy to look at him again, the child took another peek when he realized the cowled figure was not trying to hurt him. Once the boy did so, Batman pressed his gloved finger up to his lips, signaling for the boy to stay quiet before pointing over at the bunched up and drawn bed curtains in the corner. The boy took a look over at them and after a few seconds got the hero's meaning._

 _Getting up from under the bed, the boy headed over to the curtains, where he'd be more well-hidden and in a place Crane was less likely to look. Taking hold of the cover for his new hiding place, the boy took one last look back at Batman._

 _And then immediately gave an ear-splitting scream._

 _Batman quickly looked behind him, turning just in time to see his own reflection in the blade of a scythe as it descended down upon him._

 _Batman rolled out of the way just in time, the scythe's metal cracking against the tile floor to signal it'd missed its target. Getting back to his feet, Batman was immediately set upon by the long gangly form of the Scarecrow, the straw and old fabric of his costume making a dry cracking noise as the villain swung his scythe again._

 _The Dark Knight was ready for him this time, catching the staff of the scythe in the spikes of his gloves before the blade reached his face. Swinging his arms to both sides, Batman broke the scythe easily in half, with the metal blade falling quickly to the floor._

 _Left with barely a stick for a weapon, Scarecrow opted to throw it at the hero before attempting to run, with Batman merely batting it out of the way before grabbing the villain by the back of his collar. Stopped in his tracks, Scarecrow turned his body as much as he could in order to point his palm at the crusader's face. It was no question why, as Batman had fought the mad doctor long enough to be familiar with the aerosol fear gas release he kept hidden under his sleeve._

 _But this attack merely proved to be a small diversion to by the villain a few seconds, for instead of attempting to spray his enemy and likely fail, as Batman was getting ready to get out of the way, Scarecrow instead attempted to run again, with the rotten fabric of his collar tearing quite easily in the hero's tight grip._

 _Seconds later and Batman saw that Scarecrow hadn't been running away but rather running towards._

 _He had the boy. He held the child tightly in his grasp as he faced off again against the Dark Knight, his hand griping the boy's chin and throat to keep him close while the other kept his palm pointed towards the child's face._

 _This change in dynamic was easily enough to get the hero to halt his advance._

" _Batman…" Scarecrow finally spoke, feeling confident in his new position. His voice had a noticeable echo behind it and a darkly distorted one at that, likely having some kind of modifier underneath his mask to make him sound like even more of a nightmare. "I was positively terrified that you weren't going to show up."_

" _Let the boy go, Crane." Batman ordered._

" _Scarecrow." The villain corrected him._

" _I'm not playing games here, Crane." Batman warned him strongly with almost a growl._

" _And as you can see…" Scarecrow responded, holding his wrist up closer to the boy's face, making the child squirm even more within his grasp. "…Neither am I."_

 _Batman quickly pulled out a batarang from within his belt, though that only made Scarecrow hug the boy closer towards his body._

" _Ah ah ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you." Scarecrow warned him playfully. "Not unless your reflexes are faster than the flick of a wrist. …Who knows? Perhaps they are. But are you brave enough to risk it, Batman?"_

 _Batman stared with rage at the villain, his anger only growing as he saw the doctor's dirty thumbed glove gently caressing the child's cheek to wipe away the tears that were in a constant flow. The boy was too scare to even scream or struggle anymore. Just cry silently as his body refused to make a sound._

 _With great reluctance, Batman put his weapon away._

" _There. That's better." Scarecrow said coldly. "See how much happier everyone is when I get what I want?"_

 _Batman merely glared back at him. "Why here, Crane?" He asked sternly._

" _Why here?" Scarecrow asked back. "Where else but here?!" He yelled, causing the child to give a quick tremble before going back to his whimpering. "My research has gone as far as it can using the same old test subjects over and over. But the children? Oh…they provide a fresh perspective, and hold back far less on what they're feeling. And the things they imagine coming for them when I make my rounds…. Oh, the mind of a child truly is a wondrous thing."_

 _Batman's fist gave a slight tremble with rage, though it was unseen under his cape. "If any of them are dead because of you…"_

" _Then you'll make my life a living nightmare, like you already do every night when I go to sleep, ever since we first met." Scarecrow finished for him. "You're already my worst fear, Batman. There's little you can do to make it worse."_

" _I wouldn't be so sure about that." The hero threatened._

 _At the knight's words Scarecrow gave a chuckle with darkness that matched the Bat's threat. "Oh, that would be something to see." The madman almost fawned. "But see, that's why I still have plenty of children left, Batman. I'm willing to trade some of them if you're willing to be a guinea pig in their place. Not a trade for all of them, of course, but certainly more than you'd get otherwise. What do you say?"_

" _Do you really have to ask?" Batman responded simply._

" _Honestly, with you? It varies." Scarecrow replied. "For a creature that haunts the souls of all of Gotham's criminals, one can't help but notice your bizarre obsession with the safety of children (those you don't dress up in bright red and green, of course). The small bit you tried to offer this boy was what allowed me to sneak up on you, was it not?"_

 _The boy in Scarecrow's hold wasn't even breathing anymore, holding it in as fear gripped his core and made him unwilling to make even the slightest movement._

 _Batman knew he couldn't stall for time anymore, not with the child about to break down any second or worse. "You're not wrong, Crane." He told the mad doctor. "I guess we all have our distractions."_

 _Pulling out the same pen-like device under his cape, Batman held down the button and activated his hidden trap._

 _Behind where Scarecrow stood, the dart attached to the security camera exploded. The blast was small enough to destroy only itself and not the camera, as the intended purpose of this self-destruct feature was too leave behind no trace. But it was still strong enough to create a popping noise loud enough to catch Scarecrow's attention._

" _What?!" The villain yelled in his suddenly alerted state, reflexively turning his head behind him, thinking he was being shot at._

 _It was only a split second before the mad doctor realized his error and corrected himself, but in that small window of distraction, his enemy had already closed the distance between them._

 _Batman felt Scarecrow's nose explode behind his fist, a red stain quickly forming across the villain's bag-like mask. The boy, now freed from his captor, was smart enough even in his panicked state to move as quickly away from the two as possible, something Batman internally thanked him for, as it left Scarecrow's body wide open for him to crash his knee into the doctor's ribcage, knocking the wind out of him and likely breaking a few things for good measure._

 _Scarecrow's cries of pain fell on deaf ears as Batman placed him in an immobilizing hold, keeping the madman restrained before grabbing his dominant arm and snapping the man's humerus between his elbow and knee._

 _Scarecrow finally let out a scream. "You…! You broke my arm!"_

" _You'll heal." Batman said simply as he searched the man's arm until he found Scarecrow's aerosol release device and ripped it away from him. "But it'll be slow. Very slow."_

 _Though with the villain heavily injured and disarmed of his main weapon, this night was not yet over, as Batman continued his search over Scarecrow's costume and body._

 _Scarecrow had threatened to gas the entire hospital to the police, likely meaning he can canisters of his trademark fear toxin all over the building. And since he wanted to take his time with the children, that meant Crane likely had some way of controlling when the gas was set off, and that left a few options. Most likely Crane had a remote triggering device on his person or had set up some master control room in the building, possibly wherever the security camera's fed their footage to. There was also the possibility that the canisters were on some sort of timer, set in case Scarecrow failed, but regardless Batman wasn't going to risk any surprises from his longtime foe._

 _Surprises such as the two small white rabbits that suddenly popped out of the villain's collar and lunged at him._

 _Caught the dark knight completely off guard by this bizarre occurrence, the two rabbits sank their teeth into Batman's arm. The quick pain that shot through him as their front teeth pierced through his glove and into his skin caused Batman to give a quick yell and unintentionally let the villain go._

 _Ripping the animals off his arm, Batman threw the two rodents across the room and into the wall, where they then exploded into confetti and streamers._

 _Though the questions that raced through Batman's head as to what just happened were many, he saw that Scarecrow was trying to get away and knew he had to put action first._

 _Opening up his belt to pull out a Batarang, the hero was suddenly taken aback as hundreds of playing cards exploded upwards from the pouch instead._

 _And now that he was the one who was distracted, Batman was left wide open as a long strung-together rope of multiple colored scarves appeared from nowhere and wrapped itself around his arm. A second similar rope also appeared and did the same to his other arm. Both ropes went tight and started to slowly pull Batman towards the open doorway of the room. Only now instead of just the open frame there was a large iron maiden casket sitting open in the doorway, its many inner spikes glinting with what little light there was in the room as the casket emitted the ropes that slowly pulled Batman towards it._

 _As Batman's body fought against the ropes as much as possible, he then saw a hand emerge from behind the casket and slide across its metal frame. It was a sickly green hue, almost like it was rotting. At least, the parts that were actually covered in flesh were, as the bits of exposed bone scratched roughly against the iron._

 _Following the hand soon came the rest of the body, just as "lively" as the appendage. The creature's red eyes didn't seem as though it had any pupils and its jaw looked as though it could fall off at any moment just from the weight of its long black beard. So shocking was the appearance of this sudden undead creature that it took Batman a moment to realize what the monster was wearing; the outfit of a stage magician, similar to what he'd known Zatara to wear._

 _Scarecrow, still nursing his broken arm as it hung limply by his side, finally recomposed himself enough to speak. "Batman, allow me to introduce to you my newest acquaintance, the great magician Al Lusion. Or as the cult circles know him as these days, Abracadaver!"_

 _The zombie stared mindlessly at the hero with his old dead eyes as his magics continued to drag him closer to the iron maiden. From a hidden pocket in his glove Batman's fingers were able to pull out a small serrated knife, which he used to start cutting the rope around that arm. But with a wave of Abracadaver's hand and the knife transformed into a dead and wilted flower, becoming useless to him._

" _I found him wandering around the swamps outside of Gotham while I was researching the legend of Solomon Grundy." Scarecrow explained as Batman continued to struggle. "Unfortunately he doesn't talk as much as he used to, vocal cords eaten away by time and worms, you see. But his newfound after-death fondness for instilling fear? It was almost like a meeting of destiny, and thus, I talked him into coming here."_

 _Batman still fought against the ropes, trying to find their breaking point. "You expect me to be afraid, Crane?" He asked defiantly._

 _Scarecrow chuckled. "Be it alive or dead, I will see fear etched on your face, even if I have to peel its remains from the iron maiden."_

 _The ropes dragged Batman closer, even as his boots left lines across the floor. Another minute and he'd certainly be dead if he didn't find some way out. At the very least he had some comfort in that he had the full attention of both villains, attentions that were better not focused elsewhere._

 _Scarecrow's smile was wide behind his mask, ready for whatever may come for his hated foe, while Abracadaver stood merely by his side passively, having no real care for this fight._

 _It was then that a sudden red beam of heat shot up from the floor below, cutting through one of Batman's bonds. Both villains blinked, unsure of what they just saw, before another beam came up and repeated the act and cut the other rope._

"… _What?" Scarecrow asked dumbfoundedly as he stared at the now freed crime fighter._

 _It was then that a hand burst up from the floor and grabbed him by the ankle._

 _With a single long scream Scarecrow was forcibly dragged down through the floor below._

 _A second later and Buttercup ascended up from the hole the villain's body had made. "Hello, boys. Room for one more?"_

 _Abracadaver's eyes narrowed, this now a fight he cared about._

 _By his hand's command a new stream of scarves flew out from the iron maiden to attack the Powerpuff. Though Buttercup was fast enough to dodge them she chose not to, allowing the ropes to wrap around her arms as they had done with Batman's. The difference was her strength was much greater, allowing her to grab the ropes back and pull them instead. She slammed the iron maiden into Abracadaver's side, catching the magician by surprise. The zombie slammed into the wall, though that only seemed to make him angry._

 _Reaching into his suit's jacket, Abracadaver pulled out a small pocket watch. Placing it before him where Buttercup could see it clearly, the zombie started swinging it back and forth by its chain, hoping to bend her to his will as he'd done with her sister years ago._

 _That was when he then found three Batarangs suddenly stuck into his rotten arm, thrown by Batman from across the room. The devices gave a quick series of rapid beeps before suddenly exploding, taking Abracadaver's arm and, more importantly, his watch with them._

 _This would be a minor setback at best, both heroes knew, as the magician's arm started to piece itself back together from its various charred pieces around the room. Give him time and Abracadaver could simply try the same trick again, thus why they had to end this quickly._

 _Ripping the blankets off the beds in the room, Batman threw the wide sheets at the zombie._

 _The man had never liked magic. In fact he'd openly admit he hates it if ever asked. It was such a simple thing yet rarely had any rationality behind it. To make something from nothing or to change what something was entirely without any explanation beyond "It's magic" drove the detective in him insane. But, in spite of his distaste for the subject, he wasn't foolish enough to avoid the matter entirely, and due to his relationships with Zatanna and her father he'd at least been able to grasp onto one string of logic in the chaotic nature of magic._

 _Most harmful kinds of magic required at least some line of direct sight._

 _The blankets smothered the zombie's face, Batman being careful not to cover up Abracadaver's entire form lest he pull a classic disappearing trick underneath it. Buttercup took care of the rest, knowing that the zombie's weakness was likely the same as last time, and that he was not immune to his own magic._

 _Pulling the iron maiden forward by its ropes, Buttercup threw it into Abracadaver again as he struggled to remove the blankets, only this time catching him in its spikes. The point went through his and the sheets, his long dead nerve endings allowing him to thankfully avoid any pain but that was his only silver lining. With one more solid move of her hand, Buttercup slammed the door to the iron maiden on the undead creature, ending the battle._

 _The scarves that bound Buttercup's hands vanished into thin air, further signaling the end of the fight. "Should have stayed a oneshot villain, Cadaver." Buttercup commented, rubbing the slight rope burn on her wrists._

 _While the Powerpuff pushed the iron maiden over with her to get the bulky apparatus to lie down on the ground, Batman turned his attention over towards the drawn bed curtains. From where he was standing he could see the larger bulge behind them than before, along with a slight shaking motion. That was all Batman needed to know where the boy had gone during the commotion after he was able to get away from Scarecrow. Maybe not the best place to hide anymore, but the child was scared and panicking, so he understood the lack of logic (not to mention there's no telling what Abracadaver could have done to him had the boy run out into the halls instead)._

 _Batman would make sure to let the boy know it was safe to come out in a minute. But first he needed to make sure Scarecrow was properly dealt with._

 _And that was when he noticed what was on the beds._

 _He hadn't gotten a chance to check under the covers earlier. Now that they were gone he was given a very clear look. What he had thought to be dead bodies of children turned out to be thankfully not. Instead there were two stuffed dummies, both with a stitched-on frown to cover their faces, giving the correct idea who up them there. At first Batman couldn't understand why they were there at all, but then he saw the small gas nozzle sticking out of their mouths and his eyes went wide._

" _Get to Scarecrow! Now!" He yelled quickly to Buttercup, causing even the tough Powerpuff to give a bit of a startled jump at the suddenness._

 _She didn't even ask why as she prepared to rush down the hole she created to get the villain, but it was too late. In the room of the floor below theirs where Scarecrow laid with his body shoved into the door of a metal medicine cabinet, the steel twisted around his body to keep him restrained, his non-broken arm finally managed to pull out what he'd been reaching for during the past few minutes. It was the trigger. He'd kept it strapped to his side for safekeeping and Batman had almost gotten it from him before Abracadaver's timely rescue._

 _Almost._

" _Scream for me." Scarecrow muttered as his thumb pressed down on the button._

 _Red lights lit up like eyes behind the burlap faces of the dummies and from out of their nozzles burst out rapid plume of brown and yellow gas._

 _Both heroes watched in horror as the fear toxin enveloped the room, with the hiss of the nozzles and Scarecrow's cackles from below filling the background. Without a second of hesitation Batman ran over to where the boy was hiding and ripped the curtain away from him, much to the child's surprise. There wasn't enough time to grab the child and get him out the window before the gas reached them, but Batman could still do something to protect him. The hero pulled out his gas mask from the back of his belt and quickly placed it over the child's face. In a minute he'd pick the boy up and make a break for it, knowing he could likely hold his breath a lot longer and better than the child could._

 _But as both hero and child soon discovered, that was not a worry they needed to deal with, as before Batman even lifted the boy up the gas started to move away from them. Turning his head, Batman saw Buttercup in the center of the room, breathing in deeply as she could and sucking up air, the gas surrounding them all whipping its way into her lungs like the winds of a typhoon._

 _A few seconds later and all the fear toxin had been drained from the room, the canisters within the dummies having run out. For a few seconds more Buttercup held her breath and once the proper time past, she spat out the now solidly packed gas in a single shot, the small dense mass poking a hole through the wall but that was the extent of its damage._

 _Scarecrow just stared up blankly at the scene from his view through the hole. "…Goddammit." He uttered as he dropped the trigger to the floor and hung his head in defeat._

* * *

 _Batman stood on the rooftop of the building opposite the hospital, watching as the GCPD and various paramedics did their jobs. The police threw the unmasked Scarecrow in the back of a squad car, specifically one with airtight windows separating him from the drivers in case the doctor had any final tricks up his sleeve, while Commissioner Gordon was on the phone with the Pines Organization, a group created in the last few years to study and combat the supernatural, likely to make sure Abracadaver was properly dealt with. The ambulance workers and doctors helped the freed children find their families in the crowd and thankfully there were plenty to be reunited, with Batman even spotting the boy from the room running into the arms of his sobbing with relief mother._

 _Hearing a small gust of wind behind him, Batman turned as Buttercup joined him on the rooftop. "Well, not too bad for our first real team-up." She commented proudly as she touched down. "What did you old guys used to call it? The brave and the bold?"_

 _Batman just continued staring at her in silence._

" _What?" She asked._

" _Did you know Scarecrow's toxin wasn't going to affect you?" Batman asked her._

" _What? Well, no, not really. I just kind of figured it wouldn't, you know? Pretty lucky, right?" She said, a bit surprised by his question._

 _She then couldn't help but notice his silence and how his vison narrowed on her._

" _Oh come on! You're not seriously going to be mad at me for that!" She exclaimed. "I had a hunch, I took a risk, and it worked out fine. What's the big deal?"_

 _Batman was quiet for another minute. "When your sister offhandedly mentioned to you that I was dealing with something in Gotham and you got it into your head that you should come and help me, I finally relented and agreed to give you a chance, on one condition. Do you remember what that was?" He asked her. She did indeed remember but he didn't give her a chance to respond. "My condition was that you stay out of sight and deal with the gas containers. With your speed and x-ray vision you could find and disarm them while I kept Scarecrow's attention and made sure he didn't activate them in the meantime."_

" _That's what I did." Buttercup defended._

" _And that if you were forced to encounter Scarecrow, you'd fly him outside of the city, outside of any signal range the trigger could have." Batman finished._

" _If I'd done that Abracadaver could have killed you." She pointed out. "I saved your life."_

" _I can handle myself. But Scarecrow has only made his fear gas more toxic over time, thus why I can never develop a permanent antidote for it. If any of those kids had been exposed they wouldn't have lasted seconds." Batman pointed back._

" _But none of them were exposed!" Buttercup yelled, throwing her arms up._

" _This time. But both of us missed the dummies in the room back there. There could have been more, not to mention more often than not, "hunches" don't always pan out well and the last thing Gotham needs is a rampaging metahuman freaked out on fear toxin. Like you said, we were simply lucky this time. So, the next time I give you an order regarding a super criminal I know more about than you, follow that order." He berated her._

 _Buttercup's eyes glowed a shade greener and her fist couldn't help but for into a fist as she held it at her side. "Why, you stuck-up, pointy-eared, self-important, overly-critical piece of-!"_

 _In the middle of her rant Batman placed two of his fingers next to his ear, pressing down on the radio receiver in his cowl. With Buttercup's super hearing she could hear that it was tuned into the GCPD's frequency as they were reporting a robbery in progress._

" _Hey! Don't just ignore me!" Buttercup yelled angrily at him._

 _Batman took his fingers off his radio. "We're done here. Go home." He stated bluntly to her as he pulled out his grappling hook._

 _This did nothing to lessen the Powerpuff's anger, as not only was he ignoring her, he had just dismissed her, like she was one of his sidekicks. "Hey! No! Wait just a damn-!" She started to yell before Batman shot his grappling hook at another building and swung off into the night. "Hey! Get back here!" She yelled after him, tensing her body as she got ready to fly off after him._

 _But her body stopped itself, her mind and her many lessons with sensei Jack telling her that she was letting her anger get the better of her._

 _The Powerpuff gritted her teeth as she watched him swing away in the distance. After a minute more, Buttercup finally let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in in anger._

"… _Forget it. Not even worth it." She muttered before flying off. "…Pointy-eared asshole…"_

* * *

… **Now…**

"That's quite the story." Jack commented as he finished pouring the water into their cups.

"I mean, the damn nerve of that guy, right?!" Buttercup exclaimed as she hurriedly picked up her cup, the girl having slowly grown more and more agitated as she recounted the story to her sensei. "I save the guy's life and the kid's and he friggin' scolds me just because I didn't follow his orders to a T like some perfect little soldier. I mean, you get what I'm saying, right?"

"Of course." Jack said.

"See?"

"But I also can understand his points as well." Jack added.

"Oh, come on, sensei." Buttercup groaned.

"I did not say that I agreed with his points, merely that I understand them." He clarified to her. "I agree that he does seem like he was acting a bit unfair towards you and should show more proper gratitude, but from what Diana has told me even he admits he as a tendency to be too hard on those who work with him, especially those closest to him, as any of his Robins could tell you."

"I find that little bit of self-awareness hard to believe." Buttercup commented as she bitterly sipped her tea, in contrast to her teacher, whom gently blew the steam from his cup.

"And in the interest of fairness, I could easily see you being similarly angered, were your positions reversed." Jack added on.

"What? No I wouldn't."

Jack looked at her. "You would not feel somewhat angered about someone putting your life above the lives of those you've made it your mission to save, saying you are more important than them?" He asked her.

Buttercup opened her mouth to respond but a second passed and still no words came out. With reluctance and lack of a proper argument against his point, Buttercup closed her mouth back up and stared into her teacup. "…He's still a hardass." She muttered.

Jack gave a kind chuckle. "On that point, I will concede to you." He gave her. "But give it time. You are teammates now, after all, and many of the most trusted allies and relationships I had back in Aku's future rarely started out on the best of terms."

"Yeah, well, when you eventually have to work with the brooding wonder we'll see how you feel." Buttercup remarked before taking another sip of her drink, her pride not allowing her to back down on her view entirely, even when it came to her sensei.

"I imagine you'll be watching very closely should that occasion ever arise." Jack smiled.

Buttercup caught that last bit. "Should?" She repeated in confusion, causing Jack to realize he hadn't told her yet.

"Well…what I mean is…I may not be on the team long enough to work with the Batman." He rubbed his neck as he explained, much to her immediate shock. "When Diana came to me and offered the invitation to join the Justice League, she explained that she did so because she believed my years of experience could help aid the other new members, be it in the fields of battle or simply in feeling like they do belong on the team. I saw her points and agreed with them, and thus accepted her invitation, on the condition that my inclusion on the team not be a permanent one, as I feel my time to finally retire may soon be at hand."

Buttercup was so taken aback by this sudden information that she had trouble finding the words. "But…! But…! But why?! You're one of the greatest warriors on the planet. You helped us save the world from Dr. X. Hell, you saved the world on your own in another dimension ruled by a literal demon! Why are quitting after all you've done?"

"It is precisely because of all I've done that I am retiring." Jack calmly explained to her, a hint of reminiscence in his eye as he spoke. "I have been on many grand adventures and been able to help people in ways I will never regret, even with the hardships that came with them. But no one wants to live the life of a warrior forever. My father eventually put away his blade and I now understand why. Though the initial time travel that sent me into Aku's future and then here seems to have slowed my aging, I am still something of an old soul and look forward to being able to sit back and enjoy the peace created by the heroes of today's world. Perhaps go back to teaching full-time again, like when we first met."

It was now that Buttercup was reminded of something as well, likely because it was something she tried not to think about that often. When she'd first met her sensei, she was eleven years old, with him in his late twenties. Over ten years had passed since then and while she'd changed considerably, he still looked as young as ever. In fact, give it a few years and they might look relatively the same age. It was that particular realization that brought up…something of a conflict of feelings in her.

The crush she'd had on her sensei ever since she'd first met him was something she'd only ever admit to herself. And even back then, back when she was that young, bullheaded little punk, though she'd get jealous and moody whenever another woman captured any of her sensei's attention, deep down she'd know it could never and would never happen between them. There was simply too much of an age difference.

But when the day came that she realized not only was she of legal age but that he did not look his own age, that did not help to make those feelings die down. If anything, every day since she'd had that one damn stupid thought, her feelings had only caused her heart to hurt more and more, as her brain kept telling itself that now…now there was a chance. And that was something somehow even more complicated to deal with.

"Do not look so sad, my student." Jack tried to reassure her, completely oblivious to the true reason behind her twisting emotions. "The day my family's sword no longer needs to be drawn again is a happy one. It means we have done our jobs well as protectors and have earned our rest." He said, patting the hilt of the blade at his side.

"No… no, it's not that." Buttercup said, still partially lost in her thoughts. "It's just that…when you retire, we probably won't see each other as much. We won't have as many…hikes and…tea breaks like these anymore…"

After a moment passed, Jack placed his hand comfortingly on her shoulder and gave her a kind of genuine smile that only he could give. "Buttercup, it is many more moments like these that I am looking forward to when I retire. My relationship with you and your sisters has never been based in fighting and it never will be, I assure you."

Seeing his kind smile caused the Powerpuff to feel the heat starting to rise up in her cheeks. "Thank you, sensei." She said, her fingers brushing her hair off to the side in an attempt to hide her blushing. "…Actually, sensei… There's…there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now…"

"What's that?" Jack asked.

The words seemed to get stuck in her throat as she tried to force them out. "It's just that…we've know each other for a long time now…and ever since I met you…I… I've always…"

" _Come on! Just say it already!"_ Her mind yelled at her. _"The worst he can do is reject you! Just tell him so that he knows!"_

"I…I…" She stuttered. "…I…think your tea could use some honey…to help with some of its blandness…" She said defeatedly, internally kicking herself for wussing out.

"Really?" Jack asked with some surprise, unaware of the battle that just raged within his student's mind. The samurai took a small sip of his tea, holding it in his mouth to fully savor its taste for a moment. "Hm." He shrugged, acknowledging her point. "It's not as traditional but I'm not opposed to trying something new. We'll have to remember to pack some next time so we can try it out."

"Yeah. Next time…" Buttercup mumbled as she went back to staring into her teacup, not feeling like drinking anymore.

* * *

… **Gotham City: The Batcave…**

"Are you sure you don't need any assistance?" Batman asked, staring up from his chair at the massive computer monitor that lit up the cave with its blue glow.

"Don't worry, boss, we've got it covered." Nightwing, the eldest of the Bat's many partners throughout the years, replied from the other end of the connection. "Light's going back in prison where he belongs and Raven's here to help make sure he wants to go back. She'll be keeping a real close eye on him. Maybe four, just to give him an extra freak out. Not that we might need it. GL and Static already did a good job of that earlier. Kind of funny that you guys got to Virg and Danny before we did, actually."

"There is still a spot open on the team for you." Batman said. "Even before we decided to create the new team the others agreed with me that we could use someone with your skills and leadership abilities. Superman and Flash especially back me up on it, given their experience working with you."

Nightwing gave a chuckle, a reflex to suppress his flattery. "Thanks for the offer, Batman, but my place is here with the Titans. The League is yours. Anyway, I gotta go. Gar's showing off his seal trick to the cops and I should probably stop him before it goes too far. Tell Al and Wally I said hi." He finished before ending the connection.

Batman's computer reverted back to its normal desktop and he sat in its glow. "Thought you'd have been here sooner." He said aloud, without turning behind him.

From out of the darkness of the cave, Superman came floating up. "Deadman's right, it's scary how you can keep doing that." The alien man commented.

"It's the bats." Batman explained, commenting on the chittering and flapping of wings above them. "They always get a bit agitated when something bigger than them flies into their airspace. At least, anything that makes less noise than a fighter jet."

"I see." Superman remarked as he touched down beside the cowled hero. _"And I imagine they're not the only ones."_ He commented to himself. The two of them were friends, of that he'd never doubted, but it wasn't hard to see that Bruce was usually not very comfortable with his presence in the cave the few times he'd been here. It wasn't anything he took personally, as he imagined his friend wasn't comfortable with most people outside of select few coming down here. This was his place, his world away from the world and a flying man kind of turns the whole thing up on its head.

"You asked me to look into how Brimstone got so far away from Chong-Mai." Batman said, getting down to business.

Superman nodded, figuring that was the reason he'd called him here. "What'd you find?"

Batman pulled up the files on his computer. "After Green Arrow shut it down the first time, General Kwan ordered Brimstone to be brought back to his county's main military base for immediate dismantling." He explained as he played the video surveillance from inside the base, showing the base crew working on the depowered robot underground. "But his superiors overruled that decision, ordering instead to have the robot studied thoroughly so that its flaws could be corrected and its design…improved."

"Because of course they did." Superman commented tiredly, folding his arms.

"Their excuse was that after Brimstone managed to hold its own against four League members before being brought down Chong-Mai's enemies would think twice about attacking them if they thought the country still had the machine in its possession." Batman told him, understanding the situation, though his tone showed he agreed with his friend's exasperation. "They've been working on the machine for years ever since and thankfully have been smart enough not to reactivate it until they know for sure that it would obey them. Then…three weeks ago at 12:38 PM or 10:38 local time, this happened."

Batman let the video play on and after a few seconds the video feed was suddenly filled with screen static.

"A feed blackout?" Superman asked, this certainly catching his attention.

Batman nodded. "It lasted for about two minutes and when the cameras came back online, Brimstone was simply gone." He continued, jumping forward in the video to where the picture came back in, showing the giant empty construction stand that once housed the nuclear titan. "According to the reports I've managed to gather, there were no signs of a break-in and none of the engineers or military personal were found missing or harmed. As far as any of them could tell, the robot was there one moment and the next it wasn't."

"What are we thinking? Teleportation? Magic?" Superman asked, throwing out ideas.

"The tech at the base wasn't advanced enough to trace any energy signatures that either possibility would leave behind. Not to mention Chong-Mai has been more focused these past few weeks making sure that news of Brimstone's disappearance didn't get outside the bases, meaning that by now that area is more than likely too contaminated for us to even try to get a reading anymore."

"So we don't know how it was taken, but we do know where it eventually went." Superman thought aloud.

"Possibly not even eventually." Batman commented, pulling up the sky map and satellite feeds. "Judging by the robot's trajectory and point of impact in Tokyo, as well as satellite blank spots, Brimstone might have been, for lack of a better term, orbiting in space above the area of attack until some outside force brought it back down."

Superman raised his eyebrow questionably at his friend, giving him a look. "So…from what we can tell…someone managed to steal Brimstone from Chong-Mai without leaving a trace, hide it up in space over Korea and Japan, and then waited for three weeks before dropping it down in Tokyo to fight a giant Balloon Fish monster."

"That, among a few other mysteries." Batman remarked.

Superman caught onto the other man's words and his look grew longer. "…This wasn't all you brought me here to tell me, was it?" He asked in realization.

Batman shook his head and tapped the commands into his keyboard. The satellite data closed out and was soon replaced by a mass of other data, ranging from bank accounts and phone records to newspaper articles. "Three weeks ago, 10:38 PM, the Morbucks foundation made a deposit of 3 billion dollars into the Swiss account of a Geoffrey Hasbro."

"One of Toyman's aliases, I'd imagine." Superman guessed.

"Around the same time Shiva and Leonard Snart's respective phone records both show them accepting a call from a blocked number I was able to trace back to Townsville, presumably from White Kitty." Batman continued, pointing towards the recorded data, with Shiva's call at 10:38 PM and Cold's ten minutes later, and a Townsville airport camera catching photo of the female assassin a week after the call. "The Gotham Gazette meanwhile published an article of citizens living outside of the main city hearing strange cackles and groaning coming from the swamps about three weeks ago. Not all who tried to investigate were later found dead from stress induced heart attacks, but those that were have their time of death placed between the hours of 9 and 12 PM."

"Or, as we're likely thinking, around 10:38 PM." Superman said.

Batman turned his chair towards his friend. "Do you remember what happened with us exactly three weeks ago?" He asked him.

"We, and the rest of the original seven, finally came to a decision who we'd invite onto the new team." Superman answered, having gotten the same idea. "When we came to that decision, it would have been around 10:38."

"Exactly 10:38." Batman stated, the seriousness of the matter and how concerned he was quite clear in his voice. "When we finally reached our decision for the roster, you asked if anyone at the table had any final objections or unstated concerns. No one did and thus the meeting was adjourned. It ended at exactly 10:38 PM."

The two heroes sat and stood opposite of each other in silence, both knowing the gravity of what this meant.

"That meeting was closed off to include only the original seven founders of the League, with no one else in the Watchtower at the time." Batman listed off. "And yet, someone knew exactly when we ended that meeting and then went about matching up different pairs of supervillains for us to deal with. And the one thing that connects these four unusually paired groups together, the one outstanding defining trait that connects Morbucks, the Fishballoon monster, White Kitty, and Abracadaver together…"

"…Is that they're all Powerpuff villains." Superman finished for him before Batman even needed to bring up the arrest reports or newspaper stories. "And noticeably no criminals or monsters from our other new members' Rogues galleries, meaning that whoever is behind all this is trying to send us a message specifically about them."

"Or a threat," Batman added. "Given how easy of a trail they left for us to piece together, clearly showing they're not worried about us knowing about them."

Superman stared up at the Bat's computer, his eyes gazing once-over all the information to process it again. "…Knowing you, I'm guessing you want to keep this quiet to the rest of the League." He then said, turning back to Batman.

Batman rubbed the small bits of stubble that were growing on his jaw, both in pondering and tiredness. "I'm honestly not certain what is the right move at the moment." He admitted. "This potential plot is big and likely to affect us all, but the fact remains that somehow word got out of what happened in that room and it happened almost instantly. Be it by a report or surveillance, we were being watched and likely still are. I was hesitant to bring even you in and the only reason I finally decided to was because I need another pair of eyes on this, preferably some with x-ray vision and reporter's instinct behind them."

"Yeah. Reporters. We're just like detectives, only people like us less." Superman jested, though Batman could tell the levity was forced, as unsurprisingly Clark of all people didn't like the implications of all this new information. "Bruce…we've dealt with mind control and doppelgangers before. I'd never believe any of the others would ever willingly betray the League but they could still be involved. Even I could be, which I'm surprised you of all people would risk." He pointed out.

"You're not wrong." Batman agreed, getting up from his chair. "But while I know the others well, I know you better. For the moment, you're the least risky person to trust, and even if I'm wrong, I still have the insurance against you that you gave me, plus my own, if things turn for the worst."

Superman nodded his head in assurance, not upset as he more than anyone knew the dangers of him going rogue. "So…what now?"

"For now, it'd be best to stay quiet and observe the situation." Batman recommended. "We'll inform the others only when we're sure they're in the clear of suspicion. Until then, we keep an eye on not just them but the Powerpuff sisters as well. With their villains being the connection, the people behind all this are more than likely to be another villain of theirs or a former ally turned against them, possibly even a deluded ally who thinks he or she is helping them, such as when Flash faced Zoom."

"And you're not ruling the girls themselves out either, I take it?" Superman asked, knowing his friend all too well.

Batman shook his head. "My suspicions about all of this were raised when Buttercup came to Gotham on a whim, claiming she wanted to help me. When I let her, and watched her in the hospital during the fight she didn't seem to be acting any different from how she's supposed to be but I still have my concerns. How about Blossom? Did you notice anything unusual when you went to help her?"

Superman gave a small shrug and shook his head. "Nothing I couldn't see any other woman in her situation doing. But that was before I heard about all this so I wasn't exactly looking." He admitted.

From what he could make of Bruce's face under the mask, he understood his reasoning, but it didn't help to allay either of their fears. "Alright. We'll keep either informed if we learn anything new. I'll be looking into why Scarecrow suddenly got the urge to go into the swamp that night and find Abacadaver if he was hiding out in Gotham's Children's Hospital for months."

"I'll see what I can dig up on how White Kitty got in contact with Gentleman Ghost and the other villains." Superman said, figuring that'd be a good place to start.

"Sounds good." Batman agreed. But before his friend turned to leave, "And one more thing. I think we should also take a closer look at Blossom's daughter."

"Mimi? Why?" Superman asked.

"When I tried looking into who the girl's father was, I found very little on who it could even be, and given Dexter's background in cybernetics and programming, there's a strong possibility that what I did find was either faked or altered." He explained. "If they are trying to hide her father's identity, then there's going to be a very serious reason why. One that might just explain who's behind all this."

Superman didn't like it, especially after he'd seen how much Blossom cared for her daughter, but he certainly understood it and agreed. "I'll see what I can do."

Batman nodded and went back to his chair while Superman rose up and started to fly out of the cave. As he went he saw the Wayne family butler Alfred coming down the stair that lead into the mansion, whom also took notice of him.

"Ah, master Kent. I was unaware you were visiting." The elderly man greeted him as he descended down the stairs with a silver platter in his hands.

"Just leaving, I'm afraid." He responded politely, holding his flight for a moment to talk, having always liked Alfred.

"Well then, would you care for a sandwich for the road?" The faithful butler offered him. "Turkey seems to be the only way I can encourage master Bruce to get any sleep these days."

"No, but thank you." Superman declined. "Lois mentioned wanting waffles in the morning so that's what I've been craving all night."

"Very well then, sir. Please, do have a safe flight."

"Thank you, Alfred." Superman said before taking off once more. He traced his trail along the tunnels in the same path that the Batplane often take out of the cave until he finally reached open sky again. Flying high above Wayne manor, Superman took off back towards Metropolis, knowing he'd have plenty of time during the journey to think over what he'd just learned.

* * *

 **Mini-Epilogue:**

Several hours later and Bruce Wayne returned down to his cave, having fulfilled his daytime role as CEO and now free to venture back down here before the sun was yet set. He pulled off his tie, his eyes gazing back over his computer set-up to check for any immediate alerts he should be aware of as he changed. But as he got ready to unbutton his shirt, he took notice of the red blinking light on one of the keyboard keys.

He knew what it was. He'd installed it himself. It was a signal to let him know someone was calling him using a specific phone number. The red line, he called it. And since he'd only ever given that number to one other person, there wasn't any doubt as to who it was.

Bruce pressed down on the key. "What is it, Commissioner?" He asked, adjusting the pitch and tone of his voice to be Batman's and not Bruce Wayne's.

"Oh, wow, this really does work." Said the person on the other line with a voice that was noticeably not that of the gruff Jim Gordon but rather that of a woman, sounding like she was in her twenties, maybe thirties. "I half expected this to be some weird Joker prank and I was about to hear someone being stabbed on the other line."

"Who are you and how did you get this number?" Bruce demanded to know, keeping his voice stern but controlled as he pressed another button on his keyboard to trace the call.

"Relax, Batman. Your friend Gordon is fine. I doubt he even knows anyone but the two of you have seen that number since you gave it to him."

"Who are you?" Bruce repeated.

"Can't say. Not yet." The woman said. "Even with connections as safe as yours I still think it'd be better if we meet face-to-face. Something's come up and my people think it has something do with what you and Justice League have been dealing with lately."

"And why do they think that?" He asked, trying to keep her on the line as he watched the computer zero-in on her location. _"This can't be a coincidence. Getting this call the night after I bring Clark into this. Was he really tied into all this or is even the Batcave bugged now too?"_

"Again, can't say yet. Let's just say that my predecessor had a few choice words to say about you and enough of them were kind enough for me to agree that bringing you into this is a good idea."

"Predecessor?" Bruce questioned.

He could almost feel the person on the other end smile. "Just come to the address you're tracing this call to and you'll have all the answers you need, "rich boy"."

And without another word, she hung up.

 **Chapter end**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** So, according to my Microsoft Word document, this chapter is 45 pages long, not counting responses to reviews and this section. Holy crap, I am so sorry. My plan was basically: first chapter will introduce the characters, second will set up the overall story's plot points, and the chapters after will have the characters more tied in with each other. I just wanted to make sure every character got their moment to be seen, as a story without character would be pretty boring.

So, hidden enemies, character drama, and asking who can you trust. That certainly sounds like a superhero story to me and hopefully will be one of the good ones.

To clear up any confusion with the Martain Manhunter, in Justice League Unlimited he left the League for some time to help him connect more with humanity as he was spending all his time up on the Watchtower away from everything. In the last episode of the series we get to see that he met a new wife, a slightly older woman by human standards, and was living happily with her in China. We never got a name for his new wife so I had to make up one that I thought sounded nice. Since this is a few years after that show ended and she was a bit older, she passed away in the between time, though it was of old age, which is something I imagine would be something a lot easier for J'onn to deal with since he lost his previous wife (and son) very tragically. Along with his whole planet. Like a combination of Batman and Superman's origins. He lost his entire planet and everyone he'd ever loved and he watched the whole thing happen in front of him. And yet in spite of that he's such a kind and likable character that he's one of my favorite Justice League members and I really hope they have him in a future DCEU movie (hopefully as a himself and not as the really stupid and kind of really disrespectful idea David S. Goyer said they should do for him (and just wait for what he had to say about She-Hulk)).

By the way, I made up the Pines organization, but can anyone guess who runs it? It's actually kind of obvious to be honest if you know the right show.

Well I'm running out of things to babble on about or at least forgetting what else to say so I will see you all in the next chapter. Bye!

* * *

 **QTP:** What happened to Mojo Jojo? What is Mimi's collar for? What did Flash see outside the Watchtower? What's going on with Jenny? What was the yellow light that Static saw? Who was the woman who called Batman? And who or what is this unseen enemy watching the Justice League?


	3. An enemy known, yet unseen

**Part 3: An enemy known, yet unseen**

 **Lord Razer:** Yeah, I actually couldn't help but think of the Watchmen when writing this part, as for the most part I have been enjoying DC Rebirth (though mind you the only comics of it I've read have been in trade collections). I will say that you don't have to worry about the main villain of this story being Doctor Manhattan. I try to avoid writing things about current story arcs in comics and TV and such, that way I don't have to worry about changing things when something new is revealed in that other story.

As for Clockwork, well, as the master of time, he knows all possibilities so he knows how this will all probably end. Doesn't mean he won't keep a watchful eye on the situation just in case though.

 **nightmaster000:** It's like I've said, you don't have to worry about reading these a little late, especially since you still take the time to write a review. Fanfiction's meant to be enjoyed and it's hard to enjoy something when you're forcing yourself to read through it when you just don't have the time.

You're right, Flash saw Clockwork. This is one of those times where it's a shame I can draw worth a damn because there are some parts of my stories I think would work better as comic panels.

Also, your guess on Mojo was incredibly close to what happened.

 **AMTT94:** The friendship between Bubbles and Mandy will definitely come into play later, assuming my overall plan for the story works out. As for the Justice League's position on Mandy, they like many other don't know that she's the wife of Death, nor what she's really like. The most anyone on the League knows about her is that she used to be Megaville's mayor before just one day resigning and disappearing. I actually did have this idea for a small story in mind where the Joker comes to Megaville to screw with people, so Batman has to come and stop him and during it he runs across Mandy during her nighttime-assassin job. But that didn't happen in this story so no one here is even aware that Mandy was an assassin.

If Junior does pop up in the story, it won't be for quite a while into it. And this story with touch more on Mimi's father and some of the League's reaction.

Batman and Buttercup having sex…? As interesting an idea as that is, I've already got a plan in mind for how those two will interact in the story and I never planned for any sexcapades to be a part of this story for any characters, not just them. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, just that for now I'm sticking with my original plan since I've already got it set up. And yes, I know of the "Batman: The Killing Joke" movie. I own it and I do not like how they treat Batgirl's character in the first half of that movie (the half that was not at all The Killing Joke).

 **Guest:** It is run by Dipper Pines, yes. As for Steven Universe and the Gems, in relation to this fictional world, the Steven Universe world is basically an alternate timeline. In the PPGD/JLU world, history went as it normally would. In the Steven Universe world, the Gems landed on Earth before most of civilization arose and thus influenced a lot of Earth's history. The world and history of Steven Universe is too different to fit the mold of another world, like PPGD's world or the JLU's world. I'm not saying Steven and crew will never appear in this story, just that they exist in an alternate universe parallel to the universe of this story. Another example of this would be Generator Rex, where his is a parallel universe where that Nanite explosion went off and started mutating people, which clearly wouldn't fit with this story's non-mutated world. Fun fact, I consider the Adventure Time world to be a possible future for the PPGD world, one that'll happen if the Mushroom War ever occurs. Multiverse, baby!

Sorry to ramble but the point is, Steven could appear in the story later, but coming from another universe, not as a resident of this story's universe, if that makes sense.

 **Commander M2:** I see.

 **Nikola the Einstein:** Well, not everyone dies. Some become HIM's unwilling eternal servants until they betray him and he cuts off the head of the only friend she ever had in retaliation. Cheers, mate!

You're right, the Pines organization has to do with Dipper Pines. More on him later.

I'd actually completely forgotten about Monkey, so I'd better make sure to include him somewhere down the line. I do think he's a bit too busy with his job at Global Security to have time for the League. I will say that Dexter is aware of Monkey's true identity, as I believe in the actual PPGD comic he was not shocked at all by his appearance. If he did know it then, he should definitely know it now.

 **Guest:** I still need to watch more of Star vs. TFOE, as I don't like putting characters I'm not familiar with in my stories, as I'm afraid I'll do them great disrespect. I've tried watching the first few episodes but I'll admit I'm having trouble getting into the show.

As for Steven Universe and the Gems, in relation to this fictional world, the Steven Universe world is basically an alternate timeline. In the PPGD/JLU world, history went as it normally would. In the Steven Universe world, the Gems landed on Earth before most of civilization arose and thus influenced a lot of Earth's history. The world and history of Steven Universe is too different to fit the mold of another world, like PPGD's world or the JLU's world. I'm not saying Steven and crew will never appear in this story, just that they exist in an alternate universe parallel to the universe of this story. Another example of this would be Generator Rex, where his is a parallel universe where that Nanite explosion went off and started mutating people, which clearly wouldn't fit with this story's non-mutated world. Fun fact, I consider the Adventure Time world to be a possible future for the PPGD world, one that'll happen if the Mushroom War ever occurs. Multiverse, baby!

Sorry to ramble but the point is, Steven could appear in the story later, but coming from another universe, not as a resident of this story's universe, if that makes sense.

 **Major144:** Thank you for your very kind words. I hope that I keep this story good throughout to live up to them.

 **blueblaze123:** Well, shit is definitely going to hit a fan of some type. It'd be a pretty boring superhero story if no conflict happened whatsoever.

* * *

 **Chapter Start**

… **JLU Watchtower…**

"…Alright, warden. Thank you for your time." Martian Manhunter said to the other end before cutting off the line. He could certainly understand why the jailer of Iron Heights seemed so cranky, given how late it was currently on that part of the Earth. Late enough that both Flash and Shayera had already taken off hours ago and had encouraged him to do the same. Only reason he hadn't was because he did not require as much sleep as they did and that they should have someone up here during all times (not that that was always an option these days when a crisis came up).

" _Still…a surprisingly calm shift today."_ J'onn noted to himself as he checked the news feed and security alarms around the world, seeing nothing major that required the League's attention. This was something of an incredible rarity, as he'd quickly discovered during his time on the team. With all the criminals that preferred the daylight and all that preferred the night it always seemed to be the perfect time for any of them down on the big blue planet below.

But tonight? Things were actually quiet.

" _Perhaps I should follow Wally's advice and put a game on?"_ The Martian pondered as nothing on the monitor screens demanded to be dealt with. _"Personally I've never seen the point in merely watching an activity but I suppose it couldn't hurt to give it a chance."_

Picking up the TV Guide listings from where the speedster had left, J'onn started to flip through the printed page, both amused by and questioning of some of the programs he saw listed, when he then started to smell something funny.

" _Smoke?"_ He asked in confusion as he sniffed the air, smelling the unmistakable scent of something burning.

Turning around behind him, the Martian's red eyes went wide as flames started to spread out from the door to the entire room.

"NO!" J'onn screamed in terror as he watched the fire close in on him across the floor. Running in panic to grab the nearby fire extinguisher, he quickly pulled his hand back as the flames smothered its case.

His body sweat and his throat felt like it was starting to close as the inferno boxed him in from all sides. Holding his arms up in front of him to protect himself J'onn then noticed his green flesh starting to drip in the blazing crimson light.

"Calm down, J'onn!" He yelled at himself, trying to calm down. "It's…it's just f-fire! It can't hurt you!" But he knew his attempts to fight his phobia were futile. Flame was the fear that'd gripped the throat of his entire race since long before he was even born. Far greater Martians than him had tried and failed to overcome its consuming power.

The torrents of fire were all around him, from the ceiling to the monitor controls. He could feel the heat pressing against his skin as his body started to melt, his fear consuming too much of his mind for him to maintain his form. _"The League…they're all at home… and I can't concentrate enough to contact them…no one is coming to save me."_ Was the most solid thought that passed through his head. _"I'm…I'm going to die…"_

He could not think anymore. All he could see, hear, and feeling was the crackling of the flames as it rushed to take him.

But then, something happened. A single sound that echoed throughout the satellite and brought J'onn at least somewhat back to his senses.

It was the sound of a child. A child crying in terror.

Looking outward from the window of the monitor central hub, J'onn could see that the rest of the inner Watchtower was being quickly consumed in the blazing inferno, causing him to feel an incredible tightness as he held onto his chest. But in the center of it all, near where the teleporters stood, was a small brunette girl in a white dress.

"Mimi?" J'onn realized, recognizing her from before but just barely. Where the girl had been calm and almost completely expressionless when he'd last seen her, now she was practically screaming, sobbing horribly and kneeling as the sea of flames surrounded her. "Mimi!"

Barely even able to think any more, just react, J'onn grabbed one of the room's chairs by its arms and threw out through the hub's window. Moving quickly to run from the flames that almost seemed to chase him, the Martian Manhunter leapt out after it through the broken glass.

Falling straight down as he could not focus enough to fly, J'onn soon hit the ground below, strangely enough not feeling the metal of the Watchtower floors but rather solid hot stone.

Opening his eyes with a groan from the pain of the impact, the Martian saw that there was no satellite around him anymore, just an endless wide cavern of dark red color, with countless waterfalls of lava that seemed to pour down from the sky itself. The rivers of magma baked the hard obsidian island that was his only raft among the sea of fire that surrounded him and the only thing that prevented the hero from collapsing into a catatonic state while living his greatest nightmare was the sound of Mimi's constant cries just a few feet from him. Looking ahead and her white dress was the only bit of non-hellish color in this forsaken place. Even if he hadn't wished to save her, his desire to be at all away from the flames would have taken him to her regardless.

Practically crawling in desperation, the Martian was barely phased as he left little green puddles of himself behind as he made his way over to the girl.

"Mimi!" He called out to her over to roars of the boiling lava and her own cries. "Mimi!" He called out again, this time his words reaching her, as the girl finally looked up from where she was kneeled over. Her eyes stung horribly from the endless tears that streamed down her face and she could barely make out the green blob that the hero was slowly becoming through the hot ash. But she saw him and quickly ran over to him, grabbing onto J'onn and clutching his sides for dear life.

"Help! Help!" She begged into his chests as she refused to look behind her.

Though his body continued to melt away, J'onn did his best to fight through his fear and hold her tightly to him, even as the flames seemed to erupt closer towards them. "It's…it's g-going to be alright." He told her, saying it to the crying child as much as himself. "I'll…I will get us o-out of here! Somehow I will!"

The entire realm then shook as a massive black claw, several times larger than either of the two, burst up from the lava, clamping its lobster-like sides down on the ground that held them. A second sprang up as well and clamped down opposite the other. The stone beneath their grip cracked heavily as the claws' owner pulled itself up from deep under the magma and fire. A muscular red titan, the hot lava dripping down from the white fur that covered its collar like they were mere drops of water. Its giant face loomed over them, cackling as its features hid in darkness, the light from the lava only reaching as far up as to its abdomen.

Everything up to this point had caused Mimi to either scream or cry. Now she merely held onto J'onn tightly and whimpered.

"No!" J'onn yelled at the creature, feeling Mimi's fear and it somehow overriding his own. "I will not let you hurt her!"

J'onn could almost hear the beast's face cracking as it twisted into an amused smirk. Its massive chest inflated slightly as a light started to appear in its mouth. Seconds later the beast released its power, an eruption of endless searing flames. J'onn pushed Mimi behind him and took the inferno head-on.

It was the most horrible sensation of his life. His flesh bubbled and burst as the flames consumed him. His mouth and every cell of his body screamed at once for oblivion while the fire seemed to eat away at his very mind.

And then, when the pain was no more, J'onn found himself standing right back inside the non-blazing monitor hub of the Watchtower.

J'onn practically collapsed onto the controls, panting and sweating heavily as his mind tried to readjust to where it was. His body gave a quick jolt as it did, his panicked state mistaking the coldness of the metal with the heat of flames, causing him to fall to the floor.

His head darted back and for to the sides of the room, searching for even the tiniest glimmer of orange light. After a moment passed and none was to be found, J'onn slowly lifted his hands up to touch his face. His tenseness gave way from a sigh of relief as his flesh was smooth to the touch. A bit wet from the type of sweat Martian's produce, but normal as it ever was.

With minutes passing and his body finally letting him feel like he was safe again, his mind started to relax and allow him to think. _"What…what was all of that? A vision? A dream?"_ He thought to himself as he breathed, trying to calm down and rationalize it all. _"No…no, it's not quite that. It was…something more. Whatever it was…something tells me that…I must find Mimi!"_

Bolting out of the room, J'onn headed for the transporter deck.

* * *

… **Megaville suburbs…**

The teleporter reassembled the Martian Manhunter's particles to place him on the front sidewalk of the small white two-story house that was listed as Blossom and Dexter's residence. Even from this short distance away the alien could sense the great mental strife coming from within the household.

Moving quickly as he could, J'onn did not bother with the front door, phasing instead through the walls as he flew in a direct path towards what he sensed.

Passing through the family's kitchen and living room as he went, the Martian finally arrived at what was clearly Mimi's room. The small child was asleep in her bed but tossing about frightfully, eyes clamped shut in terror. From her body some sort of mental electricity of blue and red coloring cracked around the room, lifting up the sleeves, dressers, and various toys in a hurricane of motion with the girl's telekinetic power.

J'onn quickly moved over to her bedside, placing his fingers along the girl's turning forehead, applying a direct link between the two so he could try and help her.

However, as soon as he'd made the attempt, the Martian heard a distinct bwhirring noise getting increasingly louder all around him. Before he could even react, J'onn was then attacked from all four corners of the room with electricity, sending thousands upon thousands of volts flaring through his body. Through his own screams of pain he heard the door to the room swing open and J'onn was soon after sent flying through the wall into the outdoors by a powerful blast of pink energy.

Skidding across the grass of the household's backyard, he was given no time to recover as a fist that felt like solid steel crashed into his face, crushing his head further into the dirt.

"You think you can break into MY house and attack MY daughter?!" The woman's voice yelled angrily before throwing another punch. "You tell HIM that he's never going to get his hands on…-! Martian Manhunter?!"

Blossom stopped her assault upon realizing who he was. J'onn, feeling understandably groggy after the sudden beating, needed a moment to recover before he could speak. As he tried to remember where he was again, he took note of Blossom's garb. The Powerpuff was wearing a pink nightgown, with both her glasses and bow missing from her person, indicating she'd just gotten up and likely suddenly due to his presence.

"I heard…I heard your daughter's telepathic shout." The Manhunter explained, breathing slightly hard from the rush of all that'd happened, his head reshaping itself to fix the indent Blossom's fist had made in it. "I…I was inside her dream. She was being attacked…tormented by some kind of…monster."

Blossom stood over the other hero, her eyes wandering over his form as she was greatly hesitant to believe him.

"Blossom." She heard call her name from behind. Turning around she saw her husband standing in the hole in the wall she'd created, also looking like he'd just woken up, given his sweatpants and tank top that left his mechanical arms uncovered (though strangely enough still wearing his own glasses). "He's telling the truth." He said as he held out the slightly smoking collar he'd given Mimi to wear previously. "She burned through another one."

Upon seeing the device, Blossom moved away from J'onn's body and flew back into the house at super speed through the hole. It was no mystery to the Martian as to why, as even from where he slowly stood back up he could hear the cries coming from inside.

Still a bit dizzy as he lumbered back to the house, Dexter helping him to not fall over, J'onn looked inside and saw that Mimi was awake, though sobbing her eyes out into her mother's chest as Blossom picked her up and held her close.

"Shhh. Shh shh shh. It's okay, Mimi. Mommy's here." Blossom said as she rubbed her daughter's back, trying to relax her. "You're safe now. It's okay."

While Blossom rocked her child in her arms to get her to calm down, Dexter looked quizzically over to the Martian Manhunter. "Why is it that you are the one her powers reached out to?" He questioned, J'onn almost able to feel the cyborg's robotic eyes studying him. "Normally Blossom is the one she calls out for and Mimi just met you."

"The telepathic connection she made with me on the Watchtower." J'onn said, that being the most likely explanation he could think of. "It must still exist, and when she reached out for help, that was the first thing that she would instinctually use, just as I would for my mental connections with the League."

The way Dexter looked at him told the Martian that he was debating the plausibility of that explanation, though J'onn didn't know what else to tell him. Looking over towards the bed, Mimi had finally stopped crying, now merely sniffling and keeping her face hidden, while Blossom looked down sadly at her daughter, an expression that seemed too familiar to her face.

"The creature in her dream…" J'onn spoke. "It wasn't just a nightmare, was it? And it wasn't real enough to be a vision. The creature's presence was some kind of mental attack. Something actively trying to hurt her."

J'onn could see the look shared between the husband and wife and in particular the aura of guilt that seemed to radiate off Blossom.

"…And you know what it is, don't you?" J'onn realized.

All was quiet for a solid minute before Blossom finally spoke. "Dexter…could you please get your nanobots to fix the hole in the wall?" She asked politely, her voice sounding a bit horse from emotion.

"Of course." Dexter said with a simple nod, lifting his arm up to his face and inputting a few commands.

Blossom looked over back to J'onn, though her eyes noticeably would not meet up with his. "…I suppose we were going to have to tell someone eventually."

* * *

The mother-daughter pair led the way into the kitchen, J'onn following behind as Dexter continued his work in the other room. After great reluctance from the both of them, Blossom set Mimi down in her highchair next to the table before going over to the wooden cabinets. "Do you drink coffee, Mr. Manhunter?" She asked.

"No, but thank you. And please, you may call me J'onn, or whatever will help you feel more comfortable." He replied kindly, her unease quite clear to him.

"Alright then…J'onn. Probably for the best. Jeff's normally the one who makes the coffee, or really deals with the food stuff in general around here anyway, and he's only Mimi's nanny during the day. …Though maybe after all this we should consider asking him to move in."

Moving away from the coffee grounds container Blossom pulled out a package of Chocos brand sandwich cookies, taking out a few of them to give to Mimi. Setting them down in front of her, Mimi just stared at them, not feeling very hungry at the moment. Though J'onn's back stiffened when he saw the cookies, something Blossom took notice of.

"You okay?" She asked as she put the package back on the shelf.

"What? Yes…yes, I'm fine. It's just…Chocos have an effect on me, to say the least. So I try to limit the amount I have per day…or at least the amount I'm around."

Blossom gave the Martian a questioning look but chose not to dig further into it, instead moving to sit down at the table next to Mimi while J'onn stayed standing. "…You've faced a lot of horrific villains while on the League, haven't you, J'onn?" She asked him.

"Of course." He answered politely. "In fact it's often a point of lengthy argument between your world leaders as to whether the League attracts more threats than it pushes away."

"Boy, do I know that story." Blossom commented, her sigh blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "Your friend Superman helped me deal with Morbucks before. She's a prime example, right there. My sisters and I came in just when Townsville was reaching its worse crime rate in years but some days, all anyone can ever talk about is how Morbucks is only ever trashing the city to get at us. Or that Mojo wouldn't be the way he is if we never were created in the Professor's lab accident. Or that Alexander Megalos would never have become Dr. X and created Bell and Black Eden. And so on. Most of the time we could handle these criticisms because most of the time we could handle whatever villain decided they wanted a piece of us."

Blossom then took a moment before continuing. "…But there was this one. This one bad guy, that no matter how many times we fought him, no matter how many times we stopped one of his plans, we were never able to really beat him. Just buy some peace until he came back next time. A literal demon named Kare, though I didn't learn that until years later. Most people, they just know him simply as…HIM."

It was an odd thing. For when the word left her lips, J'onn could almost hear a collective of faint, anguished moans coming off from the distance, as if triggered by the very title itself. "HIM? I feel as though I've heard the name before, but I cannot recall any records about such a man."

"I'm not surprised. Nearly everyone in Townsville has at least heard of HIM but refuses to ever talk about him." Blossom explained. "He was like our own local Freddy Krueger, only he wipes the records of his existence himself. Not that most of the people mind. It helped them convince themselves that HIM was nothing bad dream. But my sisters and I…we know him. He'll never let us forget about him. If I had both your hands and mine I still wouldn't have enough fingers to count off all the horrible things he's done to Townsville, all because of how much he hated us. How much he hated what we represented.

"There actually was a time, about a solid year, where we heard nothing from or about HIM." She continued. "We thought that maybe he'd finally just given up on us. From what I've heard, it's a thing with gods and demons where they live long enough to just grow bored of certain things. We'd desperately hoped that that was the case and that he was gone from our lives forever, simply because he didn't find us entertaining anymore.

"…But then…four years ago…HIM came back…and he was worse than ever."

It was a thing that'd taken J'onn quite some time to learn when he'd first come to Earth. To not look into a human's mind without permission, something that was easier to do than with other Martians. But there were times, times like this, where a person's emotions were so strong that their thoughts flashed before him, through no prying of his own. It was the same image J'onn kept seeing; a tall red man, his features shadowed by the horrible implications around him, a wicked smile across his face and holding out his claw for it to be shaken.

"He made a deal with you." J'onn said without meaning to, the realization just too strong. Blossom gave him a surprised look but her saddened face seemed to imply that she knew what'd happened was obvious.

"Yeah…" She said quietly, almost as soft as if breathing. "He came to me in my house one day. I can only assume he knew that there wasn't going to be anyone else with me at the time. I nearly sent him through the wall the moment I saw him, just like I did with you. …But then he told me what he was planning. What he wanted. And how I could stop it…"

The voice from Blossom's flashing memories, it rang so clearly through J'onn's head that he might as well have been in the room with them those four years ago. _"You think you'll be able to save them all from me? How much do you know of that happens behind locked doors in this city? Or in China? Africa? Other planets? There are so many to choose from that I hardly know where to start! And even if you save one or two, there are hundreds of others after them, just waiting for me. So many lives to ruin and so many potential children who will never have a life beyond what I give them."_

"He wanted a child. And he was going to do whatever it took to get one." Blossom continued, unaware of how much her anguished thoughts screamed at the Martian. "He wanted me to be the one who had his child."

It was an unintentional twitch from J'onn as the echoing voice came back. _"Now don't stall, my dear." A claw pinched her chin and lifted it up to make her look at him. "We both know what you're going to do. You're a hero after all and we both know that a hero will never let another suffer when they can suffer in their place."_ Trying to force his way through the revolting chuckle that followed, J'onn asked her "Why you? Why you in particular?"

There was very little wait in the Powerpuff's answer, no doubt having asked herself this very questions hundreds of times before. "Because I'm the only one who would have agreed." She answered sadly. "Bubbles, even now, still tends to see good and evil as very black and white. And Buttercup is too much of a fighter. Too stubborn to ever even listen to what he'd offer, much less accept it. HIM knew… He knew I'd be the only one who'd compromise. Who wouldn't care what happened to myself as long as I could keep everyone else safe."

It was the final flashing image that stung the most. _"Well, I must say, that was much more enjoyable than I thought it'd be." The red man said with a smile as he re-buttoned his jacket at the end of her bed._

It was then that he and Blossom heard the sniffle. The tray of Mimi's highchair had quite a few droplets on it already, with the rest running hesitantly down her red cheeks and wetting her pajamas.

"Oh! Oh no, Mimi, sweetie, don't cry." Blossom quickly said in worry as she hoisted her daughter out of the chair and hugged her back into herself. J'onn nearly kicked himself as he watched the teary-eyed child clutching hard onto her mother, looking almost afraid Blossom might just toss her aside if she didn't hold on tight enough. If he could see the flashes of Blossom's intense memories, why wouldn't Mimi be able to as well? And as a child, how much of that anger and that sadness could Mimi have seen before eventually believing herself to be to blame for it all?

"So that is why her telepathic powers are so great, and why this HIM keeps coming to torment her in her sleep." J'onn spoke. "She is his daughter."

"No. Not his. Never his." Blossom stated outright in defiance, holding Mimi even tighter, as if to reassure her of that. "I don't know what Kare's endgame in all this is but it doesn't matter. I carried Mimi in me for those nine months, feeling every emotion a human could possibly feel after being impregnated by a demon because of an ultimatum, but I never blamed her for it. …And when she was born, and I saw her tiny little body for the first time, the way her eyes lit up and the way she smiled when she first saw me too, I swore I was never going to let him lay a single hand or claw or whatever on her. All he wants her for is to be his tool. Something he can use to hurt others and probably get a laugh out of hurting too. Kare does not deserve any claim to someone like Mimi. She is my daughter. Not his."

Blossom took the moment to take one of the towels from the counter and gently dry Mimi's eyes, the little starting to now calm down a bit after her mother's words made it clear she wasn't the cause of any of their troubles. But still J'onn could still see the tired look through her forced smile on the woman's face, a look he knew all too familiar.

"But that pit in your stomach, the one caused by that feeling of doing everything you can and it still not being enough, it never seems to shrink, does it?" J'onn asked. "That pit only gets deeper and deeper, weighing you down until it feels like you're sinking in your failures. And you feel like you deserve such a punishment, too, for being too weak to do more."

The look Blossom gave the Martian was one of great confusion but also…reminded. Like she just realized how familiar the sadness was behind his genuine words.

"I too know what it is like to be helpless to protect your child." J'onn admitted to her.

Mimi turned her head quizzically to the Martian, almost able to feel the sullen emotions leaping off his controlled frame. Though not a telepath like her daughter, Blossom could see the same in his pupil-less eyes. "You really do, don't you?" She said, empathetic to one who clearly knew her pain all too well. Though from different species entirely, the Martian Manhunter's face as he remembered his past was the same as the face she saw looking back at her nearly every morning in the mirror.

"Yes." J'onn nodded. "And so, if I may, I'd like to offer you my assistance in helping you overcome this matter. Perhaps even offer the League's as well."

The look of worry returned to Blossom's face. "Oh, I-…I don't know if that's a good idea…" She truthfully expressed.

"I take it there are not many who know of your daughter's true parentage?" J'onn asked her.

Blossom shook her head. "No. Just my sisters, Dexter, obviously, Jeff, and the Professor. Though I wouldn't put it past Kare to brag about knocking me up to some of his Underworld buddies, so who knows who else? Given how badly people and the media have treated you and Superman in the past for just being aliens, you can understand why we've been careful not to let the wrong people know Mimi is half-…well, you know."

"I understand, and do not exactly disagree." J'onn smiled to ease her. "But have you not been searching for help to your problem? Is that not why your husband attempted to remotely hack into the JLU satellite?"

Blossom gave a slightly embarrassed look. "You know about that, do you?" She said, placing a hand up to her very hot cheek.

"Batman and I had been wondering why he bothered and given all you've just told me, it makes sense." J'onn said. "The Watchtower has files on nearly all superhumans on the planet, including those of mystical origin such as Doctor Fate, Zatanna, and John Constantine, to name a few. Any of them could aid you in keeping this HIM at bay, but you wanted to make sure you could trust them first. As any parent would want to."

"You're not wrong, but like I said, the thought of this information getting any more out there…" Blossom said hesitantly. "…I told you because, after what happened between you and Mimi, not telling you would probably make things harder for us. Make us look suspicious. But to tell the rest of your team… Are you sure I can trust them with something like this?"

"I would trust the others of the original seven with my life, as I have done many times in past." J'onn answered her honestly.

His response gave her hope but still, Blossom knew to remain cautious. "…Will you give me time to think about this? To discuss it with Dexter and my sisters? Until then, can you keep what you've learned secret?"

"Of course." J'onn said with a small bow of his head. "Though if I may, there may be some way I can help you both right now, at least in regards to helping your daughter sleep."

Blossom gave him a small surprised look, with Mimi sitting up a bit straighter in her lap as well from the Martian's offer. "Really? What?"

"For my species, telepathy is as common as walking. But that does not mean it is still not without its risk, especially for the Martian young." He explained. "Sometimes the mental input can be overpowering, as a child would naturally have trouble controlling how much they take in at once, usually resulting in nightmares. Thus we developed a shared meditation technique for parents to help suppress their children's psionic power for a few hours, something I used to aid my own children shortly after they were born so they could sleep."

"And you think this could work for Mimi?" Blossom asked.

"It is very likely that it will. Though I will not attempt it without yours and your daughter's permission."

Upon hearing this, Blossom looked down at Mimi, whom was looking back at her. "What do think, Mimi? Do you want to try Mr. Manhunter's help?"

Mimi gave a look back at J'onn, the Martian suddenly able to feel the small tickle of her mind in the back of his own. After a few seconds, Mimi turned back to her mother and nodded her head.

"Well…alright…" Blossom said, hesitantly letting Mimi slide down out of her lap and walk over to J'onn.

"This will work better if we sit on the floor." J'onn pointed, which Mimi did without question, plopping down onto the tilework while she waited for him to do the same. When the two finally sat cross-legged across from each other, J'onn gently placed his hands on the sides of her head. "Relax as much as you can. I will do the rest." He told her gently.

Mimi took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, Blossom unintentionally holding her own as she sat watching intently in the chair behind them. When Mimi was as relaxed as she could get, J'onn's red eyes lit up with a calm glow, Mimi's doing the same a second later.

" _Can you hear me?"_ He asked from within her mind.

" _Yes."_ Mimi answered back, almost sounding mesmerized by the experience. Flames then appeared around them, like they were suddenly transported back to her father's volcanic realm. But unlike before, Mimi didn't feel scared. Even as the lava roared around them, she felt so strangely calm, like she knew it couldn't hurt her anymore.

" _Let me dull your senses to these thoughts HIM sends to hurt you with. Let your mind travel away from this place."_ J'onn said to her, mind-to-mind. As he did the flames seemed to just pass right through them as their still sitting frames moved gently upwards. _"Leave behind this place of noise and go towards the calm stillness. Away from violent molten flames..."_ They themselves had not moved. It was the world around them that'd gone away, replacing the hellfire with the wide landscape of Mars, where they sat underneath the infinite starry night sky. _"…and to silent red sands"_

Just sitting at the table, Blossom could see nothing of what the two saw in their shared mental state. She wasn't even sure anything was happening until she watched her daughter's eyes start to slowly droop, the girl fighting against the oncoming doziness only slightly, until finally her eyes slid fully closed, her head falling slightly as she slipped out of consciousness.

"You…you did it." Blossom said, her disbelieving happiness breaking through. "You got her to sleep."

J'onn didn't answer her back, still sitting wordlessly where he was, his hands remaining where they were on Mimi's head.

"…Hello?" Blossom asked, getting up and waving her hand in front of the Martian's unblinking eyes, to no effect. His trance was just as deep as Mimi's. "So…I guess it's an all-night thing then." She commented, a bit annoyed with both herself and J'onn for not explaining fully how this mental technique worked. But that was overruled by Blossom's gratefulness that it appeared to be working. Though still sitting up, Mimi was fast asleep, with nary a twitch of fear coming to her face.

Figuring she could use some water after all that, especially with how long this night looked like it was going to be, Blossom grabbed a glass from the cupboard and went towards the sink about the same time Dexter finally made his way into the kitchen, the repairs finished. Given the look on his face and the phone in his hand, he had something to tell her but was momentarily distracted by the sight of his stepdaughter and the Martian Manhunter sitting on the floor.

"I take it there's a reason for that." Dexter said, a bit taken off guard by the scene.

"A bit a long one, to be honest." Blossom said. "What's with the phone?"

It was a moment before Dexter spoke, seemingly because he was still a bit confounded by what he was about to tell her. "I just got the most unusual call…"

* * *

… **The following morning: Western Colorado…**

The Batplane made its careful descent out the strikingly contrasting blue sky, the few bits of the greenery on the desert floor slowly coming into sharper focus. It was no surprise to Batman that the signal he traced would lead him right out into the middle of nowhere. Where better to conduct your private business than in a place where your only other audience would be lizards and jackrabbits?

As he flew in closer to the source of the call, among all the dull brown haze of the dirt, there was a nice big spot of red in the middle of it all. One which took Batman a moment to realize what, and to be more accurate, who he was seeing.

The wheels of the Batplane's landing gear screeched just slightly against the uneven ground as he landed. Once everything was perfectly stable, the cockpit opened up and Batman was immediately greeted as he leapt down from the vehicle.

"Bats?" Flash said as he blinked in honest surprise, swallowing the last bits of banana he'd been eating as he leaned against some rocks.

"Flash? I'm…surprised to see you here." Batman admitted as he walked up to his teammate, the high morning sun baking him underneath his black cape.

"Surprised to be here." Flash told him, tossing the peel aside. "Got a phone call from some woman about 2:00 this morning, giving me a time and location to be at. Took me nearly twenty minutes to assure my wife I wasn't having an affair before I ran out here to get an early scope of the area."

"Find anything?" Batman asked.

Flash shook his head. "Not on my own, but when he arrived later he told me his sensors show there's a big open pocket in the ground below us." He said, pointing out Dexter, whom stood just off the side of the rocks, thus why Batman hadn't seen him when he landed. "Says he's also picking up a lot of electronics, so Dexter's been trying for the past five minutes to try and locate the entrance."

Upon hearing his name Dexter looked up from the screen on his arm and finally noticed the new arrival. "Batman." He greeted with a simple nod. "Given your presence here, I take it you also received a call from an anonymous woman early this morning."

"Early last night, actually. Before I went on patrol." Batman corrected.

"Really?" Dexter said, turning off his arm's screen. "Interesting. That suggests either a higher importance on your inclusion in whatever we've been called out here for or a very thorough knowledge of our daily schedules in order to know the times we'd all be at home and most likely to hear the call. Either option is quite intriguing."

"Like I said before, I could just phase through the ground and have a quick look at what's down there." Flash offered.

"If they called you, then they're likely expecting and prepared for that." Batman pointed out. "Especially if this is some sort of trap."

"…So we just stand here then and wait for the people we know nothing about or what they want to make the first move?" Flash said slowly, his tone showing his feelings on the flaws of that plan.

Dexter adjusted his glasses. "Not exactly the best suggestion, one must admit. But in any event-…" He cut himself off. "The ground his vibrating." He said, staring off almost blankly, Batman guessing his cybernetic eyes were showing him the actual seismographs.

A second later and the other two heroes could feel it too, as well as see some of the dirt where they stood get pushed away. Both by their shaking…and by a gust of air by their feet Batman realized. It didn't take long to figure out where the sudden push had come from, as all three men took a quick step back as the rock formation they stood next to started to rise up out of the ground; suspended in the air by what looked to be a slowly rising elevator box.

When the box had fully emerged, it made a musical ding before its two doors slid open from each other and a person stepped out.

It was a woman, late twenties like Batman had figured, dressed in a deep blue business suit and skirt, with fiery red hair that came down just below her shoulders and stood out among the desert setting even more than Flash's costume did. "Ah, good. You all made it." She said with a warm, casual greeting upon seeing the three. "I was afraid you wouldn't find the place. I am Director Kimberly Possible, though my friends call me Kim. As you've probably put together, I'm the one who called you here."

She offered forward her hand to be shaken, though neither Batman or Dexter took it. Flash was thankfully a bit friendlier.

"Hey, I know you!" The speedster realized. "Yeah! You used to have that website where you'd solve people's problem."

"Glad to see its still well remembered." Kim said happily as she shook his hand. "Unfortunately had to put the site on hold for a while when my day job started eating up all my time. Speaking of which, we should probably get going." She said, gesturing for them to enter the elevator.

"Why are we here?" Batman asked her, understandably not willing to enter into this blindly.

"It's like I said on the phone, Batman. My people have discovered something that likely involves what your team have been dealing with recently and instead of being stupid, I'm going show you the top-secret discovery and bring in you guys to help us solve it." She explained evenly.

"How top-secret?" Dexter asked.

"So top-secret that I have permission from the highest levels of the US government to perform a selective mind wipe, a la _X-Files_ , on anyone I even suspect might misuse this information and legally deny ever doing such a thing." Kim answered, a good bit of natural authority in her voice. "Interested?" She smiled slyly at them as she stood out of the way of the doors.

The three men exchanged looks with each other and Dexter was the first one to stroll into the elevator. "The lady knows how to make a sales pitch." He shrugged.

Flash and Batman pondered the options in silence for a moment before Batman gave a nod, signaling for them both to go forward. Once they were all in, Kim reentered the box and pushed one of the buttons inside, causing the doors to close and for them to descend back down.

"To answer the obvious, no, the other sections of the government do not have access to your private identities or home addresses." Kim spoke as they moved. "Even the Plumbers and Skyway Patrol are unaware of us most of the time. As far as the majority of the USA and in fact the rest of the world is concerned, our organization does not exist, you three are not here, and this meeting never took place."

"And your organization would be...?" Dexter asked.

"Project Cadmus." Batman answered before Kim could, much to her surprise.

"I see someone's done a little last minute studying before he got here." Kim remarked, not seeming at all bothered by the detective's knowledge.

"Cadmus?!" Flash exclaimed, well remembering the name and the trouble it'd caused the League.

"I thought that program was shut down years ago." Dexter prodded, speaking more calmly than the other hero.

"It was. Until President Bellum had it reinstated during her first year in office." Batman answered for her again.

"Mrs. Waller must have really been able to get under your skin for you to try this hard to make sure the truth is heard." Kim laughed a little, getting a small grunt from Batman. "But you're right."

The elevator then suddenly stopped, nearly throwing everyone expect Kim off balance, whom was quite used to this method of travel by now. The walls then started to lose their grey tint, becoming as transparent as glass as the elevator started to move again, this time going straight forward.

"After hearing about the disaster that was the original Project Cadmus, President Bellum ordered for the program to be set back up but on a greatly changed agenda." Kim explained as the box moved along the track within a long, see-through tube, where outside and far below they could see hundreds of scientist working on a large variety of bureaucratic projects, some paired up and talking with obvious aliens and mutants. "Not only do we work to clean up the messes of the previous organization but we're also in charge of assessing possible metahuman, transhuman, alien, mystical, or otherwise unusually powered threats, giving aid if possible to those created in a lab or trapped on Earth unwillingly. No surprise, given the president's previous relationship to your wife and her sisters." She said to Dexter.

"And I take it that one of these changes your organization is so proud of is the non-inclusion of its former director, Amanda Waller?" Dexter asked.

"On the contrary, the President wanted her years of experience for the new Cadmus, but Mrs. Waller was happily enjoying retirement by that time and refused. But she did offer to find an adequate replacement for herself and that's how I came into the picture." Kim said. "I helped her out once years ago when some members of her fabled Task Force X went rogue. She said that giving me this job was the least she could do. Personally I would have just settled for a lift to somewhere I needed to go, like I usually do, but she was very insistent."

The elevator stopped again, this time moving sideways as it passed by two other elevators going the opposite direction. Looking out from the box there could be seen hundreds of other elevators going into rooms above and below or through the walls that were marked with the yellow and orange hourglass Cadmus logo.

"We do a lot of things here at Cadmus but our most time-consuming task is proactively dealing with threats that the League and superhero community at large either are not aware of or do not have the connections to get to in time." Kim went on. "Whenever a new Decepticon comes to Earth with delusions about reviving their boss, we're there to turn them away. When someone from the Ledgerdomain wants to cross over into our reality, they have to run their credentials by us first. When Rick Sanchez decides to lie low in our universe until the heat on him dies down…well, we're still working on that one. He's a tricky S.O.B."

"And what does this have to do with us?" Flash asked, even his patience wearing a bit thin.

Kim smiled and the elevator made another stop, changing its direction to go straight back down again, this time going through the floor and into almost total darkness. After traveling for a bit, the elevator made its final stop and the doors opening, allowing the light from the closed-in room to spill into the box.

"This looks like the meeting room from the lunch scene in _Jurassic Park_." Flash commented as he squinted, it being a fairly accurate description actually, Batman thought, given how unnaturally dim the room was, the only lights coming from the small spotlights and the projectors casting images on the screens surrounding the single circle table in the room's center, where two other men stood up from where they'd sat waiting for them.

"Director Possible." They both greeted respectfully.

As everyone got out of the elevator, Kim made the introductions. "Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet Dr. James Neutron, head scientist of our research and development division."

The first of the two men stuck his hand out for the heroes to shake it. Save for white lab coat he was incredibly casually dressed, wearing basic blue jeans and a red t-shirt with a yellow atom decorating its center. Both Flash and Batman shook his hand but when he got to Dexter he slowly curled his hand away. "Dexter." He addressed simply.

"Neutron." Dexter replied just as tonelessly.

"I noticed the topside sensors say that you teleported to here." Dr. Neutron commented. "I suppose even you had to wait to see an already existing molecular transporter before you could figure out how to build one of your own."

Dexter's face gave a small twitch but he kept his calm tone. "Yes, well, I figured I could spare the five minutes it took for me to put the thing together. It was fairly low risk, after all. I mean, what respectable scientist has only a hovercraft to use as transportation? Or a robot dog?"

Dr. Neutron fingers curled at his words and the two scientists stood in silence, giving each other the death stare.

"…Should we maybe stop them?" Flash asked Kim.

"It'll pass." Kim said. "Mad scientists just tend to instinctually not like each other very much. Too much ego in one room. Anyway," She moved over to the other man. "I'd also like you to meet Dr. Dipper Pines, whom you might know as the founder and head of the Pines Organization for the study and containment of the supernatural and paranormal."

In contrast to Dr. Neutron, Dr. Pines was dressed in a very professional black business suit and bow tie, though the maroon fez and walking stick with an 8-Ball on its end detracted from this slightly. He very excitedly shook Flash's and then Batman's hands. "It's a really honor to meet you, Mr. Batman sir. My sister's going to be so bummed out to hear that you're not actually a vampire."

"I get that a lot." Batman remarked simply.

After he finished shaking hands with Dexter, whom still did not look away from Dr. Neutron, Kim signaled for everyone to take a seat so that she could begin.

"I'd like to again thank you all for coming on such short notice." She started off as she stayed standing. "Dr. Neutron and Dr. Pines already know some of the details about what I'm going to show you. The details of this meeting are highly classified but may be shared to certain individuals outside of this room. We'll get more into that at the end and by then you'll understand the need for such discretion.

"While we still do highly classified research and development, it is only for weapons and technology of non-biological nature. No more Supergirl clones, Ultimen, or Rowdyruff Boys, given that every times it's been done before it blew up in the government's face." Kim picked up the remote sitting on the table and pressed the button to bring up a number of classified files onto the projector screen. "Instead we've focused on more practical weapons and tools for governmental use. One such project, which dates back to before even the original Project Cadmus, was trying to develop copies of Wonder Woman's lasso of truth." The slide brought up the file, spilling out numerous testing documents and pictures of the lasso.

"I doubt Diana would be happy to hear that." Flash said pointedly.

"I doubt it too. But the government feels that the hours of interrogation, possible torture, and live saved by just wrapping a rope around a suspect's arm is worth the risk of an angry Amazon busting down our doors." Kim replied before getting back to the presentation. "For years this project was pretty much a dead-end. No significant progress during nearly its entire run. But about three years back, after a particularly nasty bout your princess friend had with Ares that nearly split London in half, our people were able to recover a very small loose strand from the lasso, no bigger than a hair. We wouldn't have even found it if we weren't actively looking for it at the scene.

"So, as you might guess, our top scientists and magicians worked tirelessly to study and recreate the lasso from this one strand. Couple of months ago they managed to synthesize five prototypes, which underwent almost immediate testing." Five more files appeared onscreen, each paired with a different soldier's identification and documentation. "Five voluntary soldiers, each given the same simple test. They were each separately given a random shape and ordered to lie to the best of their abilities about what shape it was to the scientist administering the test. Four out of those five tests were complete failures. The fifth…well, watch."

A video from the last folder popped open, showing a top corner view of a small square room, where an old man in a lab coat was gently wrapping a golden colored rope around the exposed arm of a much younger and more fit man in army camouflage. The scientist gave the rope a quick tug to tighten it and proceeded to ask the soldier what shape he'd been given. The soldier opened his mouth to answer but all that came out was a harsh choking noise. The soldier fell to his knees on the floor, his hands reaching up to his throat on of reflex. The scientist quickly tried to help him, but the moment he got close, several silver metallic tentacles burst from the soldier's chest, impaling the scientist. The tentacles flung the scientist into the wall of the room, dropping him to the ground, before a barrage of bullets came out from the doorway of the room. The bullets hit but did no damage to the now very limp soldier, as the tentacles burst further out to attack the gunmen, violently smacking the soldier's body against several walls and finally the camera, at which point the feed went to static.

Dr. Neutron and Dr. Pines, though they'd already seen the footage, still had the same looks of sudden horror on their faces as Flash and Dexter did. Even Batman's vision had narrowed significantly after what he'd just witnessed. Kim herself had reviewed the footage several more times over before now and it showed. There was no more shock or horror to be left in her features. Just a quiet look of sadness and possibly guilt, clearly partially blaming herself for this.

"His name was Private Samuel Bean." Kim said when the video file closed out, sounding slightly choked at the beginning. "He had a wife and two children, all of whom as now in isolated quarantine, undergoing extensive testing to see if they've been exposed to the same kind of infection as he was."

"Infection?" Batman asked. "You believe this is some kind of virus?"

"Not in the traditional sense, but yes." Dr. Neutron spoke up. "We ran several tests of the samples taken from his body and we can confirm that Private Bean's…transformation…was due to his body being contaminated by an outside force."

"We can assume then that you were able to either restrain or kill him?" Dexter asked.

"Restrain, yes. Kill…we're not sure." Kim answered. "He killed fourteen Cadmus workers, both scientists and other soldiers, before we were able to bring him down, which we did by basically blowing apart half his body and containing him without a zero-point energy field."

A live image appeared on the screen of the private floating completely still in an isolated room, with indeed the left half of his body missing and the rest mostly converted into the silver metallic substance. "The zero-point energy field was completely essential." Dr. Neutron spoke again. "The metal expelling from the Private's body regenerated both its own injuries and his body's, no matter what we hit it with. But over the course of the conflict we realized that this healing's speed varied on how thick the walls or floors around it were. It was taking the matter from the surrounding room and converting it into body mass. The zero-point energy field meant it had no more material to work with, though every sample we took started to almost immediately eat away at whatever equipment it touched and thus had be almost just as immediately destroyed."

"But what makes you think this is an infection and not just something the guy did to himself or some newly discovered metahuman ability?" Flash asked.

"Because files from the old Cadmus gave us an almost exact match for what little samples we could study long enough before being destroyed." Kim answered. "The one bit of technology this planet's ever seen that could do these kinds of conversions and it's not even from this planet." The large image of a black and dark grey, almost Cronenbergian-like pile of misshapen metal appeared on the screen, several dog-sized four-legged insectoid machines crawling out of the earth around it, each the same silver coloring as the tentacles that'd burst out of Private Bean. "The Dark Heart."

The sudden tension in the air was almost suffocating. "Oh my god…" Dexter muttered in shock, having only read about the horror of this file.

"But I thought all traces of the Dark Heart on Earth were destroyed!" Flash yelled, understandably not wanting this to be true. "I nearly died destroying the last of it!"

"For what it's worth, you didn't fail at that." Dr. Pines said, though it was a weak assurance. "What you destroyed in your battle with the Brainiac-Luthor hybrid, that was the last of the Dark Heart on Earth."

"But then how-?"

"The Atom theorized that the Dark Heart that landed on Earth was one of potentially hundreds, if not millions." Batman stepped in, his mind working furiously to fully cope with the great likely devastation this could all mean, and clearly not liking what he was coming up with. "The original devoured everything of value on its home planet to create another of itself, then those two went off to different worlds to repeat the process, and so on."

Kim gave a sad nod. "…That's exactly right, Batman. …But that's not the worst of it."

Everyone in the room gave her a look and Kim gave a nod to Dr. Neutron, to which he gave a nod back.

"As I said, the…metal, the nanotechnology that burst out of Private Bean's chest, it converted the surrounding material to repair both itself and the injured bits of Private Bean's body. His _organic_ body."

Dexter gave a rapid blink behind his glasses. "The old Cadmus files…they only mention the Dark Heart being able to convert organic material into the appropriate metal and technology for its control, to create any type of non-organic material in any form. It never said anything about it being able to do a reverse process."

"The Dark Heart that landed in Goldhanger, Nevada could not do that." Dr. Pines informed him, leaning heavily on his cane while he sat. "The technology we found in Private Bean, for lack of a better word, is an upgraded version of the Dark Heart. It is the next logical step for it to take. Being able to create organic matter out of non-organic material."

"For now, this is how we're theorizing it's remained hidden within Private Bean for weeks, possibly even months." Dr. Neutron said. "We run very thorough security scans of every person who comes in or out of this compound, even you three, as I'm sure your built-in sensors can vouch for, Dexter."

"It can and does." Dexter confirmed.

"Yes, well, even we never considered that an intelligent cloud of nanobots would be able to hide from us by disguising themselves as some extra fatty tissue during the scans. I doubt even Private Bean knew he was infected and that leaves a massive problem for us."

"Mass infection." Batman caught on.

Dr. Pines nodded. "Private Bean interacted with hundreds of people a day before we discovered this information and so far we have very few ways of uncovering who is infected and who is not. The prototype lasso was destroyed in the firefight and we think it was done deliberately, which indicates the Dark Heart cells have significantly more intelligence than last time, with the ability to recognize a threat of exposure and destroy it before any more of the cells could be found elsewhere."

"And to think I used to love John Carpenter's _The Thing_." Flash sighed.

"On the phone, you said this discovery might have to do with enemies the League's been facing lately." Batman addressed Kim.

Kim gave a nod of her head and pressed the button on the remote, changing the screen to a live image of an offline Brimstone. "After your big guns in Tokyo took care of him we used our Japanese connections to bring Brimstone here into a deep underground bunker, where its radiation wouldn't be a problem should it happen to reactivate during dismantling."

"And so you could have a chance to study the technology yourself, I'm guessing." Dexter said with a simple accusation.

Kim noticeably didn't deny the claim and instead kept going. "We found traces of the Dark Heart's nanotechnology in Brimstone's removed core, as well as in some of the Fishballoon Monster's spikes. And given that we caught on to the same 10:38 PM connection that our friend Batman here did, we're going to be testing the likes of Morbucks, Toyman, Scarecrow, and White Kitty for more, though it's doubtful we'll find anything. We got lucky with the two Kaijus. All that extra radiation pumped out during the fight fried the exposed Dark Heart cells, giving us something dead to work with. But with these criminals…those cells could be just as hidden as they were within Private Bean. As comforting or not a thought it may be, Cadmus can't just go kidnapping and performing illegal autopsies on living beings anymore on a hunch."

Kim grew quiet for a long minute. "Gentlemen, I hope you realize the gravity of the situation here. We are facing a possible invasion here and one unlike any we've ever seen before. The enemy has the ability to live virtually undetected within the bodies of unaware civilians and take over them if need be. The orchestration of Brimstone's freedom from Chong-Mai and its battle with the Giant Fishballoon Monster, as well as possibly the other villains, shows an intelligence either testing the scope of its powers or the start of a much larger plan, which, unfortunately, is the option we have to consider as the reality of the situation until we have more information."

"But if what you're saying is true, then any of us could be infected with these Dark Heart cells and not even know it." Flash pointed out worriedly. "Any of the three of us could be unaware spies for some kind of collective hive mind. Heck, so could any of you three."

"Yes, but unfortunately, that is a risk we have to take." Kim said defensibly. "We've been making no ground in either containing or fighting this new form of the Dark Heart. We have no idea how much more of this stuff is out there or even where the main Dark Heart chamber creating the nanotechnology is. And with the whole world potentially in danger, we had to bring in some help. Batman, while Mrs. Waller had quite a few choice words to say about you, she made it clear to me that she at least respects your judgment and so should I. She also commented on your paranoia, which I suppose is helpful in this case, as it lowers your risk of having been infection."

"Hrm." Batman grunted, but didn't say anything more.

"Dexter we know goes to great lengths to maintain his technology and likely would have picked up any outside contamination entering his body." Kim gestured over to the cyborg. "Your risk of having been infected is also very low, especially after what HIM did to you."

Dexter nearly bolted up in his chair. "How…how do you know about that?" He demanded to know, his face having a hard time keeping his fear and anger in check.

"We have several agents with Underworld connections and HIM likes to brag." Dr. Pines explained, though clearly aware that this topic of conversation should never have been brought up.

"HIM?" Batman asked, wondering who they were referring to.

Dexter was breathing a bit hard, though at Batman's words he tried to force his composure to come back. "I'll…I'll explain another time." Was all he said and would say on the subject. "And what about you three?" Dexter asked Kim and the two doctors, hastily getting the conversation back on track. "Why should we trust you or anything you say? As has happened before, this all could just be an elaborate trap to convert us too."

"We've run tests over ourselves, some with low level radiation to see if an of our cells have an abnormal reaction. Though you are all free and of course expected to run your own tests on us." Kim explained. "It's also expected that you do the same for whoever you choose to trust with the information you've learned today. As I said at the beginning, you are allowed to share this information but it is to be done with the greatest of caution. If whatever we're dealing with can contaminate anyone, whoever you tell could already be infected and this new Dark Heart will know you're onto it. This technology is not like what your League fought before. It is manipulative and likes to remain hidden and will do whatever it can to remain that way."

Taking this new information into account, things finally started to make sense now in Batman's head. The 10:38 PM connection made perfectly logical sense. A infected member of the original seven would unknowingly give that information to the Dark Heart's hive mind, which would let its other agents get to work on their tasks simultaneously. But still, this left many disturbing questions…

If a League member is infected, who could it be? Superman? It'd make sense to go after him first, but his only reason for suspecting his friend in the first place had turned out to be the Cadmus call. Wonder Woman, maybe? It'd make sense, given that just a prototype copy of her lasso exposed the hidden cells. But she also has the lasso on her at all times, so would the cells even be able to infect her without anyone immediately knowing? Himself? …That's a troubling possibility, and one he should look into as soon as possible, probably in the company of several others for safety just in case he is.

Then again, if the Dark Heart's nanotech could infect Brimstone, then it could easily turn out to not be a member of the League at all and in fact just be an inanimate object that they'd never even look twice at. Perhaps the Watchtower itself?

And none of this answered the biggest question of all: why are the Powerpuff Girls and their rogues gallery the common connecting thread in all this? What have they ever had to do with the Dark Heart technology? Is it really just a coincidence? Or being made to look like it involves them just as a distraction?

"Alright, so everything you've said up till now at least seems to add up." Dexter spoke up, regaining Batman's attention along with everyone else. "But there's one question I've been pondering since I first arrived down in the desert upstairs. Why him?" He asked, pointing directly at Flash, who looked quite stunned by the suddenness of the question. "I can understand Batman and myself. We're well-known to be brilliant and paranoid. But Flash, while undoubtedly an accomplished hero, is not quite in that same bracket. Unlike his predecessor, he is neither a scientist nor a detective. He's a car mechanic. No offence."

"None taken." Flash replied, clearly some taken. "And how do you know what my day-job is?"

"Only so many people can be dosed with chemicals and struck by lightning in the exact same place before someone notices something." Dexter remarked casually, Flash not really taking to that answer. "Anyway, your response, director?"

Dr. Pines gave a look over to Kim and she gave him a nod of permission. He proceeded to take a thick paper file out of his suit jacket and slid it across the table to Dexter. Dexter opened the file up and his cybernetic eyes speed-read through the first few pages within. "Intriguing…" He said in almost awe.

"What? What's intriguing?" Flash asked, his body leaving his chair and appearing behind Dexter in the blink of an eye. From over the scientists shoulder he could tell that the file was about him, given the name on the file's tab and the many Vitruvian Man-like diagrams of himself. But it was filled with so much bio-chemistry related data that Flash had trouble understanding what he was looking at.

Kim pressed another button on the remote and her slideshow ended, with three identical flash drives popping up out of the table. "There is one bit of comfort we gave regarding this new ability of the Dark Heart technology." She said as she slid a drive towards each of the three heroes. "For a conversion like it did to Private Bean, the nanotechnology needs time. The original human cells in his body were consumed and used to create new replacement nanotech and flesh that the Dark Heart could control. We're not sure of an exact time limit but Dr. Neutron assures me such a process would require at least a couple of days if the victim were to remain unaware of what was happening to him. "hus why we didn't place any of the League or its new members under immediate quarantine after your big battles with the Kaiju and White Kitty's gang, despite most of you having come in direct physical contact with them."

"It should be noted however that rapid conversion is still a very real possibility, just like with the original Dark Heart." Dr. Neutron warned. "The difference is the rapid conversion is a very violent and in no way subtle process. But because of the speed it ends up creating more nanotechnology than human biology, as we've learned from Private Bean's regeneration abilities before his capture. Creating organic material takes more time and focus."

"What does this have to do with me?" Flash asked.

"Your vibrational frequency." Dexter answered for them, still deeply engrossed in the speedster's file. "All atoms vibrate above absolute zero temperatures but your levels are off the charts. Your body's matter is in a far more constant and rapid state of motion than any other living being's on this planet."

"And that frequency only gets stronger when your speed is active." Dr. Pines added. "Flash, am I correct to assume that, even when not in your duties as the Flash, you use your great speed often in your everyday life, be it cooking, cleaning, getting coffee for you and your wife, or just in getting to work on time?"

"Yeah…" Flash said, not liking that details of his personal life were known by these people he'd just met. People who've clearly been spying on and studying him.

"In order for the Dark Heart nanotechnology to make conversions it needs both time and stability and your body offers neither of those things." Dr. Pines further explained. "Flash…you might be the one person on this planet who cannot be infected by the Dark Heart. You are the one person that we know almost without a doubt has not and will not be converted. You are the one person that everyone in this room knows they can trust."

Flash was trapped in completely stunned silence as every eye in the room fell on him. "…What?"

 **Chapter End**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** By the way, Private Samuel Bean was a joke reference to actor Sean Bean, who's been known to die in nearly every role he plays. Honestly, I was just trying to think of a name and that's what stuck.

To explain things a bit in case I badly botched it in the story, the Dark Heart, which is a powerful self-replicating piece of alien technology from Justice League Unlimited, has an upgraded version that's come to Earth and can convert humans and other organic beings, using them as unaware hidden agents of its will. Cadmus only discovered some of the Dark Heart cells by accident and they have no idea how much more is out there in the world or where it's coming from. Why is it doing this? How did it become like this? That'll be answered as the story goes on.

Don't worry, the Flash's supposed immunity to the Dark Heart infection is not just because I like the CW Flash TV show (because if it was this Flash would be Barry, not Wally). Basically I decided a while ago that I wanted the Dark Heart, which was featured in some of my favorite JLU episodes, to be in this story and once I decided on how it worked and why, I of course had to think of possible weaknesses, because it gets boring if the fictional technology is too OP. All I'll say for now is that I do have a plan in mind for all of this.

Speaking of things I decided were going to be in this story, I'm going to see if I can get a bond going between Mimi and the Martian Manhunter. For some reason I just like the idea of the two of them connecting.

So you might be asking yourself, why have Sara Bellum, the secretary from the original Powerpuff Girls cartoon, become President of the United States? Because that woman deserves something after all this time, dagnabbit! Plus, perhaps the certain connections a certain blond haired Megaville mayor had before leaving office were her way of thanking Ms. Bellum for her service as her secretary. I mean, if Grim hadn't offered to make her a queen of the Underworld there's little doubt in my mind Mandy would have taken the President's seat for herself and since she's not there it'd just go to waste otherwise.

* * *

 **QTP:** Will Blossom trust the Justice League with the secret of who Mimi's father is? How much can the Martian Manhunter help Mimi? What did HIM do to Dexter? Is Flash's immunity why he saw Clockwork or was it because of another reason? And does the upgraded Dark Heart technology have anything to do with HIM and Mimi?


	4. Who can you trust?

**Part 4: Who can you trust?**

 **Nikola the Einstein:** Glad you liked it. Goddard usually is with him, but this was a special, very private meeting, so he stayed in his Cadmus lab (he has another private lab elsewhere). As for Dipper and Constantine, I imagine that Dipper went out for drinks once with him and swore to never do it again after all the trouble John caused him (Constantine is a great character, but he is still a con-man and an asshole). It would be funny to see who's the bigger con-man, actually: Constantine or Grunkle Stan?

As for Mabel, she has mellowed a bit with age, as anyone should growing up, but she's still quirky because she wouldn't be Mabel otherwise. She still is very fun loving, but has to be responsible now that she has twins of her own and-OHHHHH! I said nothing!

1.) Umm…well, I mean experimentation would hopefully have never been on the table in the first place. Batman's paranoid, certainly, but he's not a monster. He'd never do anything to risk hurting a little kid.

2.) That was the idea.

3.) Not quite. Sorry, but what HIM did was much worse than that.

4.) I will say, I find the premise of that idea hilarious. Grim probably hates superheroes because they keep coming back to life and messing up his job. I can imagine Clockwork being annoyed with the Speedforce because it keeps messing with and breaking time.

5.) That's pretty close to the truth actually.

 **Guest:** Sadly, that's not likely. Bill is a pretty big character and I think he'd be more of a fit for another Grim Tales story for now.

 **AMTT94:** Dexter did hack the government and find the files on Cadmus, but those were on old Cadmus, back before it got shut down and later brought back with Kim Possible in charge. This new Cadmus's information was kept separate from the old one as no one wanted a repeat of the Ultimen or more Supergirl clones. As for why Cadmus hasn't yet told the Justice League about Mandy, the League didn't even know that this new Cadmus existed and this new threat of the Dark Heart for now seems to have no connection to the Underworld or the Domain of Death, so there was never any reason why Mandy would be brought up.

Don't worry, Chase Young will appear in due time, along with a few other familiar (and possibly not familiar) faces.

 **nightmaster000:** Glad you liked it, and I also hope I can pull off the J'onn/Mimi relationship well. The Martian Manhunter I feel is the heart of the JL in a way and Mimi is what connects PPGD and Grim Tales together, so I figured having the two of them bond was only natural. And yes I do have a plan for some of the Titans members to show up or at least make cameos (you can already probably guess one of them).

I'm trying to think if Batman ever came up with a plan against a kid. He's done it to his friends and teammates but never a member of the Teen Titans or Young Justice and it's hard to imagine Tim and especially Dick doing it for him. Not that Batman's contingency plans are always the best mind you. In the comics, his original plan to take down Superman was using this new Kryptonite he created that turned Superman's skin transparent, causing him to absorb even more solar energy and become even MORE powerful, to the point he couldn't control his power. Not the best thing to use on someone who may have turned evil or is under mind control.

1.) Hopefully.

2.) I'm definitely thinking of a certain mystic to bring in later.

3.) Not quite. Sorry.

4.) Correct.

5.) Right.

 **Major144:** Thank you. I'm really glad you liked it.

 **DPSS:** Let's just say that they did something worth doing with their lives.

 **Guest:** Yeah, Dee Dee sees Mimi as her step-niece. So she does try to keep as much of an eye on her and Dexter as she can. Unfortunately, I've never played Undertale, so I have no idea who Gaster is. Sorry.

 **That guy:** Thank you for your very kind words. Funny enough, I do have a few ideas for how a sequel story to this one could go, but given that this is going to be a longer story, that sequel is a long ways off, if I ever even do it. Though Batman Beyond is of course something I've thought about it regards to both that story and this one.

 **Guest:** I admit, I've never thought of the Professor creating Chi. I've thought of Blossom accidentally creating her in a lab (same with Mimi) but not the Professor, so I'll have to give it some thought.

* * *

 **Chapter start**

With an undignified snort, Blossom accidentally woke herself up. Her eyes squinted uncomfortably against the morning sun as it came rolling in through the kitchen windows.

" _I must have dozed off."_ She remarked to herself with a yawn as she looked at the microwave clock, which read 8:48 AM. "Jeez. I really dozed off." She said as she tiredly rubbed her face.

As her brain rebooted itself for the day, Blossom then realized with a quick jolt of panic that Mimi and J'onn were nowhere to be seen. But thankfully, as she bolted up from her chair, her fears were cast aside just as quickly as they'd come, as the Powerpuff heard familiar voices coming from the other room.

"…-personally I've never seen the point in it, myself." Blossom recognized as the Martian Manhunter's voice as she walked towards the doorway of the living room. There she found both him and her daughter sitting cross-legged on the floor by the small wooden coffee table, pigging out on the now nearly empty package of Chocos. Mimi in particular, Blossom noticed, had a good deal of messy chocolate crumbs all over her cheeks. "I see nothing wrong with double-stuffed, of course," J'onn continued saying to Mimi as he still held one of the cookies in his hand. "But I'd honestly rather just have two cookies than one slightly bigger one."

Mimi nodded her head, seeming to agree with what the hero was saying. But she then held up her finger, signaling for him to wait as she pulled out two more Chocos. With J'onn watching in interest, Mimi pulled the tops off both sandwich cookies and smooshed the cream-fillings together.

"…I suppose that's one way to go about it." J'onn admitted.

Mimi shook her head and motioned for him to keep watching. She then removed the cookies away from both sides and rolled the cream center up into a ball before popping it happily into her mouth.

J'onn blinked at the action but couldn't help but to let a chuckle break through his lips. "Well…the cream is my favorite part, too. Though I most certainly hope you'd never let the actual cookie go to waste. That's a near unforgivable crime in my books, you know." He said playfully as picked up one of the now bare tops, getting Mimi to act like she was giving him a small dirty look for stealing it.

Blossom did her best to suppress a laugh over how adorable the scene was as she leaned with her shoulder against the doorframe. "The worst part is this isn't even the unhealthiest breakfast you've snuck for yourself under my nose." She commented aloud, announcing her presence to the room and quickly getting the two to turn towards her.

Mimi was quick to use her pajamas to wipe the crumbs off her mouth before getting up and running over to her. "Momma!"

Blossom scooped her child up in her arms and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. "Good morning to you too, monkey." She said before getting a whiff of Mimi's breath. "Ugh. Mimi, you'd didn't brush your teeth at all last night, did you?"

Mimi shut her mouth tightly and held her breath in, like that would take back what her mother already smelled.

Setting her back down, Blossom said "Mimi, go and brush your teeth. Then I'm going to make you some eggs, or at least something that won't have you bouncing off the walls before noon."

After a bit of visible pouting, Mimi did what she was told and ran off towards the bathroom.

"And I will be checking this time!" Blossom called out after her, giving her daughter plenty of fair warning.

J'onn rose up from where he'd been sitting. "My apologies, Blossom." He bowed his head respectfully. "I was feeling quite drained of energy when the night finally ended and after she shared the Chocos you'd given her with me she pointed out there were more in the cabinet. I, in my shame, didn't realize she probably shouldn't be having any this early until they were almost gone." He rubbed the back off his head awkwardly.

"Ah, it's fine." Blossom shrugged it off. "Mimi once devoured the entire birthday cake Jeff made for her before Dexter and I even got up. Now she can't even look at frosting without looking like she's about to barf." Blossom laughed a little at the memory of it all before staring off fondly down the hall. "Besides…this is the most rested I've seen her in a long time." She looked back at him. "I…I don't know how to thank you enough, J'onn."

"You are quite welcome and I was happy to help how a could." J'onn told her before his expression became a little more dour. "Unfortunately, what I could do was rather limited. Mimi's telepathic powers are very strong, far stronger than I've seen in even any Martian child her age. It took a great deal out of me to keep them suppressed and it's likely they'll only get stronger with age. Tonight was manageable but being able to do this continuously for her is…unlikely. …I'm sorry."

Blossom had to admit, the Martian's words did kill a lot of the hope for her daughter that'd been building for most of the night, but she still did her best to put on a strong face. "Yeah…I kind of figured it was going to end up being something like that." She said to him, able to tell with just a look that J'onn indeed felt almost as bad about this as she did. "But still, even a small break is better than none, so don't go beating yourself up when you did in fact help her."

Blossom gave him a small, painless punch to the arm and a warm smile, to which J'onn did his best to give in return.

Taking a look at the hands on the living room's mounted clock, Blossom said "Hey, I'm sorry to impose on you any more, J'onn, but can you keep watching Mimi while I change? At least until when Jeff gets here in a couple minutes?"

"It is no imposition. …So long as I can have the rest of the Chocos pack…" J'onn said charmingly, unable to resist himself even a glance at the remaining cookies.

"All yours." Blossom waved her hand at the package with a laugh, at that moment her super-hearing picking up the sounds of a door opening and the soft patter of tiny feet on carpet, letting her know that Mimi had just come out of the bathroom. As the hyperactive girl ran back into the room, ready to play more with J'onn, Blossom stopped her with her hand. "Ah, ah, ah. Breathe." Blossom ordered her, getting down on a knee to be more on her level.

With an almost roll of her eyes, Mimi exhaled at her mother's face.

"That's better." Blossom nodded, picking up the strong smell of bubblegum toothpaste.

Standing back up to leave, all three were give a sudden momentary attack of panic as a show of light filled a corner of the room, only to allay those fears when the light died out and Dexter's form rematerialized from it.

"Morning, sweetie." Blossom greeted him as she felt Mimi's hand relax around hers, the child having immediately darted to her when the unfamiliar light had started. "You're just getting back?"

"Bit of a long night." Dexter answered back simply before noticing J'onn. "I take it it was the same for you?"

"Yes, though thankfully not without at least some results to show for it." J'onn replied to him. "If you do not mind me asking, what were you doing out so late at night after I arrived?"

"Zeta-beam tests. Figured it'd be a handy escape tool in case of emergencies." Dexter lied straight through his teeth, the slight robotic echo in his voice helping to cover up any apparent flaws or quivers in his speech. "And you were right, Blossom, the problem was the cooling unit." Dexter stalled further as his eyes completed their full body scan of the three, something what went unnoticed by them all, save for Blossom, whose own eyes could practically see electromagnetic waves as they passed over her. While this was greatly concerning, she didn't say anything, as there's no way her husband would have thought she wouldn't notice and thus there had to be a reason behind it.

Unaware of it himself, J'onn said "Well, since you are here now, Dexter, I suppose you will wish to hear how the night went with Mimi."

"In a minute." Dexter told him, his scans thankfully not picking up any anomalies in their bodies, though with his limited knowledge of Martian anatomy he was to remain cautious. "I require a change of clothes too, as unfortunately not all of my sweat glands are cybernetic and one's nerves certainly take an uptick when they accidentally Zeta-beam themselves up three miles above the Atlantic Ocean. I and my wife will be back shortly."

Casually holding Blossom by the waist, like any loving couple would, Dexter lead his wife towards their bedroom with him as inconspicuously as he could make it.

"I have something I need to tell you." Dexter whispered out of the corner of his mouth to her, letting her know that she was making the right choice by playing along with him on this.

* * *

… **Earth's orbit: JLU Watchtower…**

A few years ago, Superman got dragged into battle just outside of the moon's orbit with a group of three very frog-like alien bikers that the bounty hunter Lobo had ticked off. That was actually when he'd first met Jenny and why he'd been almost immediate to second Shayera's nomination of her into the League.

During the fight, Superman's spacesuit was basically shredded and had to continue the rest of it while holding his breath. That battle lasted for over two hours because he and Jenny had to deal with Lobo afterwards and during that entire time he realized he never once felt any strain from his lungs. It was after that day and much testing later that Superman realized just how much he'd expanded his lung capacity over the years (thank you, artic super-breath) and that with enough prior warning, he could practically survive for over a week in space before he'd need oxygen again. Possibly longer if he didn't encounter any heavy space traffic or supervillains.

And yet, somehow even with all of that, the revelations in what he was seeing now and the weight of it all made it feel like he couldn't get enough air.

"The implications of this are…deeply disturbing." Superman remarked to the other two, turning his head from the projector as he just needed a moment to take it all in.

"You're telling me." Flash said, patting the big guy on the back, having a good idea exactly what thoughts were going through his teammate's head right now.

Trying to recompose himself, Superman turned to Batman. "Guess this explains why you had me scan the room again after you had already run your own. Even your cave might be compromised now." He said to him, in a rare moment of his grimness matching the Dark Knights own. "You sure this information can be trusted? New or not, it's still Cadmus."

"I'm still running my own private investigation." Batman assured him. "I don't trust them either but so far all the information Director Possible and her scientists have given us is lining up with what I have so far. Since they're going to be studying Scarecrow to find out if he's been infected, I'll do what I can to keep watch over the situation. Though I do believe we should take a look Brimstone's core for ourselves and see if we make the same findings."

Superman nodded in agreement at his friend's suggestion for cautious belief in what they've been told. Still, if this new Dark Heart is real…and knowing the League's luck, it probably is…

"So, this is all that know the full details on this…infection?" Superman asked. "The three of us, the three at Cadmus, and Dexter?"

"I think by now it's safe to assume that he's told his wife about all this, given how loyal he seems to be to her." Batman said, making an educated guess. "She's smart enough to be unlikely to share this information with anyone else but I can't say that for sure. From what I've heard, the bond between her and her sisters is notoriously strong."

"Guess we'll have to deal with that when it comes up." Superman said, almost with a grunt before pinching the space between his eyes tiredly. "This is just like with the White Martians all over again. I hate the idea that we might not be able to trust the rest of the team."

"We'll beat this, Clark." Batman said, trying to reassure him.

"I hope you're right. But what I don't understand is, with all the problems the Justice League and the government has had in the past over trust, why were the three of you brought in on this? Even you admitted I'd be the first person you'd expect to be a target for infection." Superman pointed out.

"Yeah, it's just such a crazy thing, right?" Flash said. "But apparently, as in according to the Director, I-"

"I was brought in because Waller vouched for me, much to my shock too." Batman interrupted him, deliberately changing his tone to sound like it was that of impatience and not of trying to keep Flash quiet. "Dexter's cybernetics are probably the best maintained in the world, so he'd detect any infection. And since I didn't know what I was walking into after getting the call, I brought Flash in with me as insurance in case I needed to get out fast. Very fast. Since this was before I knew about the Dark Heart infection, I had no choice but to bring Flash all the way into this after everything he heard."

"I see." Superman said with a nod, seeming to buy it, but Batman knew his friend's reporter's instincts well enough to know that if he and Flash slipped up even a little, Clark would easily see through the lie.

"We've secured this room as best we can, but the rest of the Watchtower could still be compromised." Batman said to Superman. "How fast do you think you could run your x-ray vision over the entire satellite?"

"Doesn't matter how fast as long as it's done." Superman said before all that was left of him was his momentary after-image as he flew off towards the hanger doors on the other side of the Watchtower. Seconds later and the other two heroes could see their teammate outside the window, his eyes with a small white glow as they searched over every inch of the satellite's exterior.

"You can talk now." Batman said to Flash. "Even he can't hear us through a vacuum."

Flash shot him a look. "Why did you lie to him like that? You already told him everything else we know about the Dark Heart tech. Why not tell him that I can't be infected?"

"It's precisely because you can't be infected that I couldn't risk telling Clark. Not until I'm absolutely sure the Dark Heart hasn't already gotten to him." Batman explained. "The less people who do know, the greater chance we'll have of finding out if anyone is compromised if and when something does happen to you."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Flash, look at the records of the incident." Batman gestured at the flash drive inserted in the projector. "This new Dark Heart technology, whatever it is, it's shown signs of intelligence. When it took over Private Bean, it didn't just attack the Cadmus workers at random, it made sure to destroy the prototype copies they made of Diana's lasso. It went out of its way to destroy one of the few things it discovered could expose it and if whatever hive mind that's controlling the cells finds out that you can't be infected by it, then it has no reason to let you stay alive. That makes you a target."

"But if just the prototype lassos could expose the cells, doesn't that make Diana a target too?" Flash pointed out.

Batman was quiet for a moment. "I have…considered that possibility, yes." He admitted hesitantly.

"Well then we at least need to warn her!" Flash exclaimed, quickly ejecting the flash drive out and ready to run with it. "If she could be attacked at any moment then we have to let her know what she's up against!"

"Flash!" Batman yelled strongly before the speedster could bolt away. "We can't tell her or anyone else until we've got a better handle on what we're dealing with! The incident at Cadmus happened months ago! She could already be infected and not know!"

"But what if she's not?!" Flash shot back, jabbing his finger at the bat-symbol on his teammate's chest. "What if she and the rest of the team haven't been infected with the Dark Heart cells yet? By keeping this information from them, information that the hive mind might already know we have because some of its cells were already exposed by Cadmus, our friends won't know that there's this thing about there that's after them. We're practically guaranteeing that they'll be infected at some point!"

"You think I don't know that?!" Batman snapped at him, finally hitting his breaking point after having it all build up inside him since leaving Cadmus. "Diana and Clark are my friends and it took an incredible amount of self-convincing to justify to myself even bringing him in. There is no one I'd rather have at my back than the League after all we've been through. …But if we screw this up…if we make the wrong move and you get killed or I get infected…what is there to stop the entire Justice League from being taken over too? All our teammates brought down because we shared too much with the wrong person or jumped too early without knowing some critical piece of information."

Flash's mouth opened to respond but soon closed itself. His pointed finger rejoined the rest of his curled fist as he pulled his arm back, his body and mind struggling with and hating the fact that he really couldn't argue with the man's point. "Bruce…I didn't mean to imply that you didn't care or were just being stubborn…" He said apologetically, looking slightly away as he spoke.

"…Wally," Batman spoke up, placing his gloved hand on his teammate's shoulder and regaining his attention. "For what it's worth, I am glad that I can trust you."

Flash gave the Dark Knight a funny look before cracking a smile. "Jeez…Batman's handing out compliments? This really is a dire situation." He quipped.

"But be careful how much you trust me." Batman then added. "I'm still human and could be compromised at any moment. So be sure not to keep your back to me unless you're absolutely certain I'm not a threat to you."

"And there's the dour pragmatism we've all come to know and love from you. World didn't feel right there for a second." Flash chuckled.

Batman was tempted to smirk but decided not to give Flash the satisfaction quite yet. "Go on home to Central City. It'll be suspicious if we start acting too much outside our usual activities. I'll let you know if Clark and I learn anything new."

"Sounds like a plan. I'm starving for some Big Belly Burger." Flash said as his final words before he was gone like his namesake and heading for the teleporters.

As his cape flapped before him in the wind created by the speedster's run, Batman looked out the Watchtower window, still seeing Superman scanning another of the satellite's many outer sections. He'd known Clark a long time and studied him longer than he felt willing to admit. He knew he hadn't heard any of the conversation just now, but still Batman couldn't help but feel a little paranoid.

"For all our sakes, Flash, let's hope that I am just being needlessly stubborn."

* * *

Blossom had finished getting dressed over five minutes ago. But still, she sat in still silence upon her and her husband's shared bed.

"Are you alright?" Dexter asked gently as he turned off the hologram emitting from his arm.

Blossom rubbed her head tiredly. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just…just a lot to take in, that's all." She said, waiting a moment before speaking again. "So my sisters…?"

"Yeah."

"And the Professor."

"Mm hm."

"And even myself and Mimi could be infected without even knowing it."

"I'm going to run tests." Dexter assured her, sitting down next to her and placing his arm gently over her shoulder, allowing his wife to lean into his chest. "An outside contamination like these Dark Heart nanomachines, there's no way they don't leave behind some kind of hint as to where they are and where they've been that I can't pick up on. Especially if Neutron and Cadmus have already started making progress. If there are any bits of the Dark Heart in you or her, I will find them and cure you both of them."

Silence passed for a bit as Blossom processed it all and thought of what she felt had to be said next. "Do you think that he's behind this?" She asked.

Dexter was quiet for a moment. "…There's no reason to believe he is." He stated simply, trying to sound reassuring. "HIM's preferred machinations are more magical than mechanics, and even if he did decide to switch things up, you know there's no way he wouldn't make sure we knew it was him."

"I suppose." Blossom said, her tone making it clear she still had her doubts. "But you know he's probably still watching. Which means if we're involved with this Dark Heart tech, then he might get involved as well."

Dexter gave a pause. "That is certainly a…morbid thought. HIM with its power or it with his."

"…J'onn…the Martian Manhunter…he said he and the league would be willing to help us if we asked." Blossom admitted.

"The same Martian Manhunter whom is in the other room with our daughter and could also be potentially infected as well?" Dexter pointed out.

"Yep." Blossom said with a tired sigh, showing she'd clearly thought the same thing as her husband. "He was in direct physical contact with her all night, so there's certainly been opportunity for infection, and I suppose it only figures that the one person of the Justice League who discovered out secret would conveniently be able to help Mimi with her nightmares."

"Now, now, there's no reason to give up hope quite yet." Dexter said, trying to offer positives on the situation. "Like I said, I'll be running tests on all three of us. If Mimi is not infected, and given that no one outside of your family knows what she really is, she is unlikely to be a target for infection, then it is unlikely for the Martian to be infected either. Though as for seeing if he himself might be to guarantee it…I'll think of something."

The husband and wife pair, both with too many thoughts to count swimming around inside their heads but with no idea of which was the right one to say, sat on the bed in silence together for a few more minutes, finding at least some comfort in the holds they had on each other.

"…We've fought too hard to get some stability back into our lives again after both Dr. X and HIM." Blossom said, angry bitterness in her voice slowly turning into determination. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you two."

Dexter placed a gently kiss atop Blossom's head as his metal hand rubbed her back. "Isn't it usually the guy's job to say stuff like that?" He said with a dry, joking tone.

Blossom gave a short chuckle as she hugged her face further into her husband's chest. "Who's the one with super strength and invulnerability here?" She asked with a smirk.

"Fair point." Dexter smirked back, still worried over what might be to come but still far more willing to face it when his wife was still able to smile.

After a few more minutes of just letting themselves rest up before they'd face the day, Blossom and Dexter got up and left their room. As they walked down the hall back to the living room, they heard a familiar voice and clicking of tusks that let them know that Jeff had already arrived.

"-And as long as you've got the right amount of Nutella, they'll stay pretty soft after they come out of the oven." He was explaining to J'onn as Blossom and Dexter entered the room.

J'onn looked at the recipe the spider handed him in almost fascination. "Interesting. I'd never considered baking the Chocos into a brownie, or really baking them into anything at all. I'll have to keep this in mind." He said in thanks as he folded the paper and put it into his belt (which Dexter suspected morphed into his body).

Having a small smile spread across her lips as she saw Mimi sitting in her usual spot on Jeff's back, Blossom turned to J'onn. "Thank you again. Really, for everything you've done."

J'onn smiled and gave a small bow in welcome. Turning over to Mimi, the young girl simply stared back at him. Blossom suspected there was some kind of telepathic goodbye going on in the space between them right now as the Martian Manhunter said nothing for almost a solid minute before finally moving to leave.

However, once he began his walk, J'onn's leg wobbled a bit and he nearly tumbled over, saved only by Dexter catching him by the arm.

"Hey, whoa, buddy, you okay?" Dexter asked him as he pulled him back up to his feet.

J'onn rubbed his bald head, not in pain but more tired embarrassment. "Y-yes, yes, I'm fine. Like I said, it was a long night and my mental facilities are not quite all back to full strength yet."

"Do you need a lift?" Dexter offered.

"No, no, it's alright." J'onn politely waved off the suggestion as he stood back up more fully. "Once I step outside the Watchtower will be able to beam me back up, so it's only a few steps. (Then I can look up what Nutella is)." He then added to himself under his breath.

Letting the matter drop, Dexter relented and no longer supported him up. Once final goodbyes were said, J'onn exited the home onto the front lawn. "Watchtower." He said as he tapped the com-device hidden in his ear (or at least where it'd be if he had any).

After the neighbors collecting their morning papers got an eyeful of the green alien man leaving the Utonium household and J'onn took a moment to admire how good a job Dexter's machines had done repairing the hole in the wall Blossom had made with his body, the Martian Manhunter's particles were scattered in a show of light and sent shooting upwards into space.

With all that excitement over, Blossom, Mimi, and Jeff ventured back into the kitchen, where Jeff was very insistent that Blossom sit back and relax so that he could make them all up some breakfast. Dexter meanwhile did as he always would and headed for the bookshelf that hid the entrance to his lab behind it. Tilting forward the copy of Carl Sagan's _The Demon-Haunted World_ to activate the doorway's unlocking procedure, Dexter looked down at his palm as a small tube, no bigger than the tip of his finger, filled with a light green substance ejected itself out carefully for him to see. He'd designed the syringe built into his arm and the chemicals it secreted to cause the least amount of pain and presence felt possible, so it didn't seem like the Martian had noticed anything. Still, Dexter figured, best to get to work fast just in case.

" _Sorry for the invasion of privacy, J'onn."_ Dexter thought, his practicality admittedly causing him to not feel much guilt over it. _"But I have to be sure."_

* * *

Dipper Pines knocked on the open door of his boss's office as he gave one last read through the report he'd made. "Hey, director, going to need you to give this a look over. It's a couple of proposals the organization has thought up in dealing with containing the Dark Heart cells. And given the possible breaches in civil liberties for some of them, probably a good idea to workshop-…whoa."

Dr. Pines had walked into the director's office without really paying any attention and now that he'd finally looked up from his report, he could finally see the many other papers messily scattered all over her desk, each one marked either _Top Secret_ or _Classified_ and no doubt each relating to some new crisis on the rise, with sadly the Dark Heart cells simply being one of the more prevalent among the masses.

And there was Director Possible, slumped over all the files and her head firmly planted against the woodwork.

"Uhhh…boss? You, uh…you okay? You're not looking very well." Dr. Pines said as he stood there awkwardly, suddenly feeling very guilty about the document in his hand.

"If I said I don't feel very well, you imagine I could give myself the day off?" Kim asked dryly, her monotone voice slightly muffled by the desk.

"Well, technically speaking you are your own boss." He shrugged, trying to carefully set the report down amongst the rest without her noticing.

Kim gave a groan and sat back up in her chair. "Yeah, but literally speaking the president is my boss. Job pays well but I do miss the website sometimes." She remarked as she rubbed the red spot on her forehead. "You said your report is about containing the cells? How are we doing on actually detecting them?"

Dr. Pines rubbed the back of his neck ashamedly. "Sadly, still about where we've been for a while now. Outside of the radiation tests, which we're not even sure how well that particular method even works, we've got nothing to go on. Jimmy's still grinding away in his lab to find a solution, especially now that we've brought Dexter into this, but whether he's got anything new I can't say."

Kim sighed deeply. "You know, I remember back when I was sixteen and my husband and I only dealt with the typical supervillain of week type of stuff and the occasional cult of monkey kung-fu fighters. Whatever happened to those days, Dip?"

"If it makes you feel any better, when I was twelve the town my sister and I were spending our summer at was taken over by a malevolent demon from another dimension who turned everyone into stone statues for his throne. So…you know…relatively speaking these Dark Heart cells are not…too far outside the worst thing that could be happening to us."

Kim actually did find herself able to chuckle at that. "You should've added optimist to your resume when we hired your organization." She remarked just before her desk's phone started to beep. Recognizing who was calling her, Kim hit the speakerphone button. "Jim, tell me you've got some good news for me."

"You need to turn on Channel 6 right now." Dr. Neutron said urgently from the other end of the line, the clear echo of a TV in the background.

Kim and Dr. Pines exchanged a look between each other, having never heard the scientist talk in such an apparently alarmed manner. Fishing out the remote from underneath the piles of reports, Kim turned on the flat screen bolted to the wall of her office.

"-Another truly historic day here in Washington D.C, as our own President Bellum welcomes forth to our planet a new alien visitor and possible ally to the US and others." The reporter in the very bright yellow jumpsuit told the camera as she stood in front of the large press conference stage, where the president stood at the podium waiting. The reporter put her finger up to her earpiece. "I'm being told that he's coming out now, folks." She said as she turned to face the curtained off right area of the stage. The curtain opened up and the first to exit was a human looking male, wearing a long black trench coat and blue-lensed goggles, with his bizarre black hair pointing up and going back over his head in an almost lightning bolt shape. There was a murmur of confusion from the audience of other reporters before a second person came out from behind the curtain, this one being much more clearly the alien.

Very thin, very tall, and a body seemingly composed entirely out of silver-tinted cybernetics, the alien's talon clawed feet clicked against the stage sharply as it walked up to the podium, a long purple cape (and the alien's only apparent form of clothing) trailing behind it. Once finally standing next to the president, his height was made even more impressive, as Bellum stood about 5'8 and the alien was a good two feet over that at least. While the alien's body was overall humanoid in shape, the head that looked down at the world leader as was long and slicked back to a point, almost like that of a Kineceleran. It had no mouth, though a few vertical lines at the base of where its jaw would be indicated a speaker of some kind, and its eyes, which more strongly resembled the headlights of a car, made an odd clicking noise like a camera every time its shutter-like eyelids came down to presumably clean them.

A bit awkwardly due to their height difference, President Bellum and the alien shook hands respectfully, gaining applause from the audience.

Turning back to the camera, the reporter said "As many of our more casual viewers may or may not know, this marks only the third time that another alien race has contacted the Earth and wanted to make his presence known through the properly established channels and protocols set up by the UN. The first was the Guardians of Oa, the aliens responsible for our Earth's many own Green Lanterns, and the second being Azmuth of the Galvan. Though it is my understanding that this is the first contact we've had with the alien seeking a working relationship with the Earth instead of merely just showing their support for diplomacy."

Eyes still on the screen, Kim spoke back into the speakerphone. "Why bring this to my attention, Jim? Was this guy never actually screened by Cadmus?"

"No, he was. Took a few weeks but his paperwork went through. The bureaucracy probably being the reason we didn't pay much attention to the process. However, this just came back from the lab after a secondary screening of a sample of his body." Dr. Neutron said before Kim's laptop dinged, signaling the arrival of the file he'd just sent her. Kim opened it up and almost immediately jumped out her chair in shock.

"His body! It's composed almost entirely out of the Dark Heart nanotech!"

"What?!" Dr. Pines yelled before quickly running around the side of the desk to view the file. Taking a good long look as his eyes rapidly scanned over the sample's readings and chemical composition, his head then jerked back to the TV. "We just say him shake hands with the president! We know that stuff can spread through direct contact! We've got to quarantine the area! Get civilians out of there! Get-!"

"WAIT!" Dr. Neutron shouted from the other end of the line, nearly blowing out the speaker from his volume. "Read where the sample came from."

Kim and Dr. Pines took another look at the file, searching for the correct paragraph. " _Subject pulled off his own finger and presented it willingly for study before growing a new one._ " Dr. Pines read aloud, his tone changing from fearful to confused as he went. "Wait…this sample came directly from the alien?"

"Exactly." Dr. Neutron said, his more strained voice showing that his brain was racking itself for all the possibilities such a thing could mean. "Skyway Patrol and the Plumbers thought it was just some new programable metal they'd never seen before, so they found it more interesting than alarming. Cadmus only knows what it is now because we have other samples of the Dark Heart to compare it to that they didn't have access."

"So he's not trying to hide what he's made out of." Kim remarked tentatively as she opened up more files about the alien's information. "Wait…it says here that he presented the sample so that the governments of Earth would quote _"know what to look for"_. He wants us to find more of the nanotech?"

There was a silence from Dr. Neutron that followed, but given what he said next, it was likely that he'd given a habitual nod of his head, to distracted by everything to care that the other end couldn't see him. "From what I'm reading, the White House doesn't want everything to come out all at once but they are planning a press conference in a few days where they'll let him reveal the real reason he came to Earth seeking a partnership."

Dr. Pines read the lines on the file his colleague was building up to. "He says his homeworld's technology was stolen."

As the doctor immersed himself more every detail of the report, Kim turned her attention back to the TV, where the alien now stood before the podium, ready to give his address to the crowd of reporters and cameras. Given his great height he had to bend over quite a bit in order to talk into the microphones. After a bit of feedback and his speakers making a noise that sounded like a radio adjusting, the alien finally spoke.

"…Gsghghbt-my thanks. Ahem. Many governments and people of Earth, I am Rilx Vod, of the planet Mocolu, in the Vega system." He said, his slightly echoing voice matching that of a grown man. Whether this was the aliens real voice was quite doubtful, as the occasional shift in high and low pitches showed his voice was constantly tuning and altering itself so that he could be understood. "It is my greatest of thanks that you have welcomed me with open arms to your world. I look forward to what will be hopefully a very mutually beneficial partnership between our two worlds. I am sure that there are many questions you wish to have answered and that I in turn will wish to answer in turn. However, your government has informed me that the appropriate time to answer those answers those questions is not now, but rather in a…press conference, I believe it was called, that will be held in a few days' time. While I am not used to delaying such a trivial thing, I do not wish to show any disrespect for the laws and ways of your world and shall of course comply. Please, bring all questions you wish to know. To Mocoluans, very few things are more treasured and worth seeking than knowledge. I hope that we share such a wondrous trait with you many Earthians." President Bellum walked up to Rilx and whispered into where she presumed his ear was. "What? Earthlings?" He asked her, barely covering up the main microphone with his hand. "Really? That can't be right."

The black trenchcoated man whom had led Rilx up onto the stage then tapped him on the shoulder, pointing back to the curtained off area where they'd come from. After a shrug from Rilx, he followed him back off the stage, triggering a large collection of butts and voices to rise up from chairs as the many reporters shouted their questions to try their luck at any last official comment.

"And with an escort back behind the curtain by Dr. Dib Membrane of Skyway Patrol, looks like that's all we're getting out of our new visitor from another world, now known to us as Rilx Vod, until further notice." The reporter said back to the camera. "Looks like President Bellum is going to give her own address to try and ease the crowd's hunger. We'll see if we can get any sneak previews of what to expect at the next conference. Until then, this is April O'Neil, Channel 6 news."

As the president spoke to the crowd of chattering reporters, Dr. Pines looked with worry for instruction to Kim, whom sat fingers entwined and very deep in thought.

"Call Batman and Dexter." She told Dr. Pines and Dr. Neutron in a calm but commanding order. "Now."

* * *

 **Mini-Epilogue:**

 **Metropolis: Lexcorp Tower**

Bodyguard/chauffeur/one time and sadly probably never again CEO Mercy Graves burst into her boss's office. "Lex! Did you see the news? Did you see what-"

"I saw it, Mercy." The man known as Lex Luthor said simply and calm, his back kept turned to her as his eyes stayed glued to the large TV screen, even though Rilx had already left the scene minutes ago. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of something."

Mercy recognized that cold tone in his boss's voice and, upon seeing who was sitting in his desk's guest chair, made a quick exit, making sure to close the door behind her.

Pulling out the remote, Luthor turned off the TV. "Well, it appears that part of your story checks out." He said as he walked back to his much larger chair on the other end of the desk. "So then, Mr.…Jojo, was it? Or do you prefer a more first name basis?"

"I, Mojo Jojo, am not very picky about such trivial things." The green ape grunted, scratching under the sling that held his itchy broken arm.

"Very well then, Mojo." Luthor said as he sat down. "Since I can now put more stock in your story, please, tell me more about this meeting you saw.

 **Chapter end**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** I figured that with _Justice League_ coming out to theaters now I should try to get at least something for this story posted. I'll probably see it some time this weekend, so here's hoping it's good. I'll probably enjoy it well enough, given my love for superhero stuff in general. I grew to like _Man of Steel,_ I like the _Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition_ in spite of its flaws, I loved _Wonder Woman,_ and even with the DCEU movie I feel is too messy for me to consider it good, I still found some stuff to enjoy in _Suicide Squad._ Even with the Marvel movies I seem to get more enjoyment out of them than others do. I didn't get some of the hate I heard for _Captain America: Civil War_ (which was WAY better than the comic it was based on), I really enjoyed _Doctor Strange._ Heck, I was surprised to find out that there are a lot of people who didn't like _Avengers: Age of Ultron_ and I thought it was better than the first one, if only just because I thought the character interactions were way better. Just kind of goes to show how movies can get differing opinions on them.

So a new alien visitor has come to Earth named Rilx Vod, who's body seems to be made out of the Dark Heart technology and is quite honest about that fact. I'm curious if anyone else is having flashbacks about the Reach from _Young Justice_? That story, both from the show and the comics, is what helped inspire this story a bit. Though how much of a similarity there'll actually be remains to be seen.

As for Rilx Vod himself, he's actually not an OC. He's an existing character, though one who's been altered significantly due to events that'll be revealed later. I won't give away too many details right now, nor whether or not he should be trusted. I'll only give this one hint as to his identity because I'm sure it'll eventually be asked: He's NOT Grim Jr from the future.

By the way, if you are having trouble visualizing Rilx, imagine the body of General Grievous (only with a purple cape), the head of XLR8 from _Ben 10_ , and a voice somewhere between Ultron's from _Age of Ultron_ and Metal Cooler from Team Four Star's _Dragon Ball Z Abridged_.

This is a bit of a shorter chapter, I know, as there wasn't a lot that needed to happen here. If all goes to plan, next chapter should have more going on.

* * *

 **QTP:** Was it wise for Batman and Flash to tell Superman about the Dark Heart tech? Was it a good idea to keep Flash's immunity a secret from him? Will Dexter find anything in the sample he took from the Martian Manhunter? What is this Rilx Vod's story and can he be trusted? Why is Mojo Jojo meeting with Lex Luthor?


	5. In the light of day

**Part 5: In the light of day**

 **Brave2000:** I hope you're also happy to see it come back again, given how long this break between uploads was.

 **blazingpheonix123:** The Megas Mecha itself is very likely to appear. However, Coop himself is dead at this point in the timeline, at least according to Grim Tales' flashbacks, so he is not likely to appear. Thankfully though, he and Dexter were friends in PPGD.

 **R98:** Well, it's a fan-comic written by a guy who no longer writes for it but has fans wishing he still was (long story that I don't even know all the details of) and drawn by a guy who's a great artist but recently has been having trouble with very slow story pacing (not slow uploads, I'm the one who's completely guilty of that). But it's still really fun and a big reason I even got into writing Grim Tales fanfiction is because I just wanted to read more Grim Tales after I got to where the comic was at the time.

And yeah, I had something of a similar reaction to Grim and Mandy being married, but I came around to it eventually (at least it wasn't Billy or Irwin she ended up with).

 **coldblue2015:** I will look forward to that, should you ever want to do that. I always enjoy hearing your thoughts and questions.

 **Guest:** That'd certainly be really cool, as some scene I imagine I feel would be much better visually shown than just described. Big problem though is that I cannot draw worth a damn and given how long it can take me between chapter uploads, I would not want to make another person who can actually draw wait on me for that long while I'm pulling things together. Still fun to think about though.

 **Major144:** I'm glad you like the bonding, and this chapter should bring the villains a bit further back into the story again.

 **nightmaster000:** I am glad you liked the chapter. For Mimi and her aunts, now that you mention it, I definitely should include a least a few moments between them. When planning this story and who'd be in it, I wanted to make sure everyone would have at least one big relationship or thread with another character to carry them through the story, so it's not just anyone all on their own. Mimi's circle of direct characters included mainly Blossom and J'onn while Buttercup's was with Jack and Batman and Bubbles with Mandy (there are others I'm not mentioning, but those would be spoilers). While everything in the end does tie back to Mimi and HIM, Buttercup's and Bubbles' main arcs through this story do not tie-in as directly with Mimi as say Blossom's and J'onn's do.

I still want to and will likely include moments between the two Powerpuffs and Mimi. I'm just saying I have not thought as much about the interactions between them as I have with those more tied into their personal stories.

1.) Exactly. Plus it's a big thing in superhero comics and media where keeping too many secrets can end up causing more harm than good, or at least more drama and not necessarily the good kind.

2.) Though there is still the worry that whoever is in control of the Dark Heart tech already maybe knowing about Flash's immunity. All the secrecy is a moot point if the secret is already known by the person you're trying to keep it from.

3.) Same here.

4.) Wrong, but you're not far off actually.

5.) Correct. If there's anyone willing to fight for humanity (and then exploit the hell out of them afterwards) and stands a chance at saving it, it's Lex Luthor.

 **Nikola the Einstein:** She wasn't a few years, mainly because she didn't realize that people in congress do need to get reelected. She's back in now, and I still haven't decided whether Mabel in politics is cool or terrifying.

 **AMTT94:** For now, this story is just a prequel to Grim Tales itself and not any of my stories. Jewel can still appear though, as I like the idea of her and Clockwork being married and he's definitely going to be showing up again in this story.

 **neverendingZero:** There was definitely a message that HIM sent to Blossom through Dexter, but it sadly wasn't anything as noble or heroic as that. Hopefully I'll be able to show exactly what happened within the next couple of chapters (and hopefully those don't take me years to get to again).

As for Junior, I do have plans for him in this story, I assure you, though I am making sure to always keep in mind that this is primarily Blossom's, Mimi's, and the League's story, not his.

 **Zach Pottinger:** Sorry about the long wait. Hopefully the next couple sets of chapters will not take as long. I can't give away too much due to spoilers but I assure you I have the eventually confrontation between the Martian Manhunter and HIM already planned out. The Megas Mecha itself is very likely to appear. However, Coop himself is dead at this point in the timeline, at least according to Grim Tales' flashbacks, so he is not likely to appear.

It's actually because of how powerful the Lich is that the main villain of this story will not recruit him. Even with the Dark Heart tech, the Lich won't be able to be controlled. Plus, I like to view the world of Adventure Time as a possible future for the PPGD universe, post Mushroom War, so the Lich would not yet even be like how he is in the show.

All I'm going to say is that I do know how this story is going to end. Not saying it's a happy ending. Also not saying that it's not. All I'm saying is that when I began this story, I knew exactly how I wanted to end it and that's the goal everything in this story will be working towards.

 **Guest:** Jack Spicer is actually not one of the villains Vlad's recruited. Part of it is because the Xiaolin Monks themselves are not going to be appearing in this story in any significant role, so having another one of their villains without them to bounce off of I think would just be needless padding. Another reason is that all the main villains being gathered together have a common theme in common, though it's not one I'm really expecting anyone to pick up on until it's revealed.

As for Doomsday, I have no real plans for him in this story. There will be plenty of others strong enough or powerful enough to challenge Superman and the Powerpuffs and Doomsday I'd want to make sure I save for something significant, as I feel he's maybe a little overused in a lot of DC comics and media.

* * *

 **CHAPTER START**

When the bright light faded to show that the atoms had finished reassembling, the black and white clad ghost almost immediately bent over with his mouth covered, feeling like he was about to hurl all over the transporter deck.

"Ok, maybe dad was right about taking the Fenton rocket." Danny commented to himself as his stomach settled, only half meaning it as he didn't think making his first visit to the station inside a spaceship with his dad's face on it would make the impression he'd want. Once he felt well enough to fully stand again, Danny just looked up at his surroundings in awe. "Wow…"

He couldn't believe he was actually here. A real space station in Earth's orbit. The Watchtower no less! The interior was massive, with this one room stretching so far up until it hit the ceiling, just above the observation deck. Quickly turning around, the window view was occupied entirely with the image of the massive blue globe down below. Danny remembered how he'd look through his telescope back in Amity Park, just trying to catch a glimpse of this faraway speck. Now he couldn't help but grin in disbelief as he was now but an even smaller speck inside of that. In actual space.

"Yeah, I had the same reaction my first time up here too." A friendly voice called to get the startled Danny's attention. Turning around again, the ghost didn't have to look far for the source, as Static came walking up to him, also in full hero garb. "Danny, right?"

"Oh…uh…you know me?" Danny asked with some honest surprise, straightening himself out due to the sudden attention on him.

Static gave a chuckle at that. "Heh. Do I know you? You were the guy who stopped the Disasteroid a few years back, weren't you?" He pointed out the obvious.

"Well, me and about fifty billion other ghosts, give or take." Danny said, as always feeling odd about being praised for that weird time in his life.

Static attempted to shake Danny's hand but found his own suddenly pass right through it, the ghost's white glove feeling more like smoke than actual flesh. "Whoa." Static said in surprise at the weird feeling.

"Oh! Sorry about that." Danny quickly apologized. "Even when I'm not intangible most physical stuff tends to go through me unless I'm concentrating."

"Hey, man, it's cool. Wasn't for powers like that Earth would be a greasy smear across a giant green rock." Static said, urging him to not worry about it.

"Right…" Danny said, nervously rubbing the back of his head as he couldn't help but go back to admiring the station all around him. "It's Static, right? We're not the only ones up here, are we?"

"Of the newbies? Yeah. The vets are in the big conference room. Watching the tube, as you might have guessed."

Danny couldn't act like he was surprised. "It's amazing how much attention one alien can get over the thousands of others who've come to Earth just by actually filling out the right paperwork." He commented as Static led him forward through the station.

"Probably helps too that he doesn't seem like he wants to take over the world. At least not yet. First alien I ever met besides Superman was Brainiac. You can imagine that led to something of a fight."

"I think mine was a squid guy named Vilgax. I had, uh, Ben 10, that was his name, help me out with that one."

"I've heard of Ben. What's he like?"

"Definitely good in a fight with all those transformations. But a little bit of an ego problem." Danny said, trying not to sound too judgmental.

"I think that's just how celebrity superheroes are." Static shrugged. "That's why I keep the mask on."

"I'm not like that."

"You're also not in your public identity on worldwide TV. Only your hometown talks about your secret identity that much, I'm guessing."

"Fair point." Danny admitted, though at that moment remembering a recent time where Tucker tired to encourage him to cash in on his popularity by getting a _Pepsi_ sponsorship.

When the two entered into the room, none of the other heroes turned to acknowledge them, though neither Static nor Danny doubted that the group knew they were there. Batman and Shayera stayed fixated on the TV, where a crowd of reporters was gathering before a podium stage; waiting for the interview to start. Flash and Green Lantern were off to the side of them, though focused on the computer; Flash continuously shaking his head no at each new image the space cop pulled up to show him.

"I'm telling you, the Corps records don't have anything matching this "Clock guy" you saw." The Lantern told him. "Mind you, it'd help if we had more than just your description to go off of."

"Love to give you more but the Watchtower's cameras didn't capture anything other than me." Flash groaned as he scrolled through the images again; nothing coming up in any of the League's files either. "He must have been moving so fast that they couldn't even pick up on him."

"But you're thinking it can't be a coincidence that you saw him a short time before Rilx Vod announced himself to the world." Green Lantern commented.

"To which, neither of you have told us yet why this particular alien has got you so alarmed." Shayera pointed out, directing her remark mostly at Batman.

At that, the cowled man simply kept his eyes on the screen, saying nothing for a moment before finally just stating "It's starting."

At that moment, the tall metal body of Rilx Vod entered into the camera's view, allowing Dr. Dib Membrane to lead the way towards the podium. It was a smaller stage than what had been used for his first appearance, with the reporters in front of him being given plenty of chairs to eventually sit down in; every one of them trying to push their microphones forward to get an early comment from the strange visitor to their planet.

When Rilx finally arrived at the podium, he gently raised his thin hand up, causing the crowd to slowly simmer down and the camera flashes to slowly cease, giving him the opportunity to be heard.

"Thank you." The silver man said, his voice needing less time to alter itself to be understood than before. "I thank you again for welcoming me to your planet. I am unsure where to begin, so I will now request that you voice the questions you've prepared."

Numerous hands all rose, the reporters present all professional enough to know they'd never get anything meaningful out of voicing all their questions at once.

"We should have more of us down there." Flash gave his opinion as he and Green Lantern joined the other two at the TV.

"We have enough." Batman stated simply, watching as a tall man in a suit and glasses stood up in the field of reporters.

"Clark Kent, _Daily Planet_." He said, pen and notepad in hand as his red-haired photographer stood by his side, waiting for the right moment to capture in film. "You said that your planet is called Mocolu, yes? In the Vega system?"

"That is correct." Rilx nodded, with the other reporters finding it odd that Kent would start with such a seemingly mundane question.

"Yeah, I'll bet it is." Green Lantern scoffed.

"Meaning?" Batman asked.

"Eons ago the Guardians of Oa negotiated a treaty with the Vega system, allowing it to be a free sector not in their control." He explained. "It's the one place in the universe that's outside of the Corps jurisdiction, meaning it's the one place in the universe I can't go to verify his story."

"Convenient." Shayera remarked, feeling a little bad for the newer members in the room, as Static and Danny had no idea why a mild-mannered reporter would also be in the know of such a thing.

"That's well over twenty-five lightyears from Earth." Clark continued in his question while he still had Rilx's attention. "And given even just the little information the public has been able to scrape from Skyway Patrol, there are plenty of other planets between here and Vega that also feature thriving intelligent life and governments. So what makes Earth so special? Why come here of all places"

Looks of understanding started to come across the faces of the other reporters. The latter was a question they'd all been eager to have answered, but now a good point had been raised about why such a question even needed to be specifically asked.

"Dude is good." Static commented.

"Yeah, but Lois has to be so mad he got the assignment instead of her." Shayera chuckled under her breath, noticing even Batman was tempted to smirk over that, given he knew Mrs. Kent better than any of those present.

From at the podium, Rilx looked over to Dr. Membrane, whom gave him a simple nod in permission.

"That is something of a lengthy explanation." Rilx readdressed the crowd. "But, as you've been preparing questions for the last week, so have I too been preparing an explanation. For that particular question, and I'm sure many more surrounding my story, I suppose the best place to start would be with god."

There were a few in the crowd who fumbled with their pens at that last, quite unexpected word.

"I'm sorry, did you say God?" A slightly older British woman asked, her press pass bearing the name Sarah Jane Smith.

The metal man gave a nod. "Despite what you may assume from my appearance, I am from a world that does have religion." Rilx started to explain as a compartment opened up in his arm and light erupted out from within it. Clark was nearly ready to leap into action but halted himself as he and the rest of the reporters merely found themselves surrounded by a vivid hologram; showing for all the cameras to see a city of bizarre alien architecture that did yet still bear similarities to Earth's. The residents passed through them like ghost, all resembling thin, clothed apes, but with noticeable green scales shining against the sun underneath their patchy fur.

Still not completely reassured, Clark took the moment of everyone's distracted state to slightly lower his glasses, allowing his eyes to peer over the rims as his x-ray vision was finally allowed a good look at Rilx's body. However, the moment he saw the familiar shapes of the such tiny nanobots making up the metal frame, Rilx started looking around at his sides, like he had felt his gaze somehow.

"Everything alright?" Dr. Membrane asked, noticing the visitor's shifting.

Subtly, Clark ceased his scan, sliding back up his glasses as he sat down. Rilx as well seem aware he was no longer being scanned, through but could not pinpoint the source. "…It's nothing." He said after a moment of wait. "I thought I felt a passing wave of electromagnetic radiation. …Perhaps it was just an aggressive solar flare." He theorized, getting back to the topic at hand, as all the reporters noticed all the holographic aliens starting to look upwards to the sky, squinting and pointing to their fellows at something above yet unseen. "We more closely resemble the Polytheistic beliefs of old of your planet. We have gods of soil. Gods of the night and day. But the god that had the greatest impact on our history…was Z'ronmeerz. The god of challenge."

The sky above grew a tad bit brighter, signaling the arrival of a fireball that came crashing down through the skyscrapers of the alien world, cutting through building after building before its momentum was slowed enough to finally come to a halt inside the crater it'd created in the street. Despite the impact, the meteor that'd landed was no more twisted and bent than it'd already been, with the shaken and gathering aliens of the world seeing not a scratch across its metal surface.

"As I have been informed since coming to this planet, Earth as well dealt with another of our god. To you, it was called the Dark Heart."

Every reporter in the audience gave a jump as a four-legged spider robot morphed out of the Dark Heart's side and leapt to attack the natives; soon many more being spawned to join into the ensuing bloodbath.

"As our Book of Judgement tells it, this was Z'ronmeerz challenge to my people. Defeat him or perish. Like your world, Mocolu had armies. We had warriors. We even had what you would consider superheroes. But against the endless power Z'ronmeerz pulled from the planet itself, we were but the light breeze against a cliffside. Powerless to even make it move.

"However, a prophet, a scientist, his name simply O… He realized the true purpose of Z'ronmeerz challenge. We were meant to defeat him, yes, but not destroy him. We were meant to take his power and use it for our own. For what is the point of a challenge if not to improve?"

All around the landscape, with clearly much time having passed given the completely leveled city, the creations of the Dark Heart walked side-by-side with several cloaked figures; their very presence shutting down any other machine that ran its way up to attack the group. They arrived at the Dark Heart itself and it too powered down. Creating nothing more to send at them.

"It started with O learning all he could about just one of Z'ronmeerz's children. Working tirelessly until he could get it to obey him. Then they moved onto another. And then another. And another. Until O was connected enough into the god's Life Web to command the respect of Z'ronmeerz himself and rightfully be passed along the torch that was the god's power."

The holograms that moved around the reporters were a time-lapse; speeding forward by the decades to show the civilization's city become reborn and its surviving population thrive. As more and more of the Dark Heart was stripped away, the Mocoluans became more physically altered and their cities and world advancing along with them. From the few scaled ape-liked creatures that'd been left, the population over time boomed and developed into sleek metal hides, now much more resembling Rilx, though with odd patterns and colors across their forms to give each their own identity.

The hologram faded and the room's lighting returned to normal as Rilx closed the projector back up within himself.

No one dared to even click their cameras. The wave of silence that'd followed was constricting. Such a direct presentation of another world's greatest war and the evolution that came from it was certainly far more than any of those present had be prepared for.

Many in the audience gave a small jump when one of their number, April O'Neil, cleared her throat to give herself the courage needed to break the intensity. "Uh…n-not that anyone is complaining, but why show us all of that? Are you here because of the Dark Heart?"

"Yes, quite correct. But not the one that crashed on your planet." Rilx said before placing his long, slender fingers atop the podium's surface. At first, it was not quite clear what he was doing. But then the wood started to merge with the tips of the metal finger, twisting unnaturally into them like the podium had become some kind of putty. With his eyes, Clark had a much better understanding of what was going on, but that did not make it much less unsettling to watch. In a way, seeing outside cells consuming and transforming others into being like themselves was actually quite a bit worse.

It took less than minute. Less than a full sixty seconds for the wood of the podium's upper-half to pulled away and turned into the various material's Rilx needed. For when he put his hand back up, he now held within it a camera very similar to what many of the TV reporters were live broadcasting from.

"This is the power my people gained from Z'ronmeerz." He explained as he showed of the camera's viewscreen to the audience, allowing them to see that it was indeed recording and as functional as their own. "The closest concept you Earthians…er…EarthLINGs have to this process is Alchemy. The theoretical transformation of matter into different forms. Though as you can see, for my people, it is not theory. The process does require equivalency and works better for the creation of inorganic materials such as metal or plastics. But it can create organic material. It just requires more time."

Holding the camera between both his hands, the device morphed into them like the wood had. It took two or three minutes, but the audience was completely encapsulated by the process before them, as dull grey turned to bright red and the camera slowly folded in upon itself, becoming smaller and rounder, until soon all that was left in the alien's hand was a shiny apple.

"The core still has a few circuits left in it, but I feel I've transformed it enough to make my point." Rilx remarked, so simply, as though the miracle he'd just performed before all of the viewing humanity was nothing more special than cracking his knuckles. "You asked me what made Earth so special? In truth, I was hesitant to show even this much to your world. The planets closest to Mocolu are steeped to the breaking point with the same lawlessness, barbarianism, and piracy that plagues the rest of the Vega System. To survive, we kept to ourselves. And when we received Z'ronmeerz's gift, we kept it and ourselves bound to our planet. It met all our needs, so there was no necessity to go beyond where we were. It helped us rebuild. It kept us fed. And when others would come to our planet to raid it," Rilx tapped on his chest, letting the echo go out across the room. "It kept us strong enough to never be victims again.

"However…our greatest advantage always laid with our secrecy. Even the mightiest hordes who landed on Mocolu, thinking themselves prepared for anything thanks to their great numbers, we could defeat them easily when they had no idea of the power we possessed. And as barbaric as it undoubtedly sounds, we made sure they never left our world, for how much more dangerous could our power become if it fell into the hands of criminals and warlords? …But we were not prepared for anyone coming to our planet already knowing of Z'ronmeerz's gift. Knowing of it and coming solely to steal it. Arriving in a single team of two, so small and skilled we did not even pick up on them until they were escaping our atmosphere of samples of our god."

Like before, Rilx's arm opened up project a hologram, but a much smaller one this time, just big enough to occupy stage at his left. It was a still image, showing the same technologically advanced cityscape the audience had been shown before, with the cyborg Mocoluans chasing a group of two. A tall man with blue skin and black hair in a devil horns style, and a much smaller green alien with buggy red eyes and antenna; both fleeing towards a small domed purple spacecraft.

"The green one we recognized instantly as a member of the Irken race, an invader species known well throughout the Vega System. Further evidenced by the thieves' ship, a Voot Runner, a craft of Irken design, though incredibly outdated." Rilx informed the crowd. "The blue man, however, we had nothing to describe him, and it is only in speaking with the officials of your planet that I've learned he is a species native to your world, or at least a dimension on the other side of it, as a ghost, with abilities that very well explain how the two were able to sneak onto Mocolu so easily."

The majority of the reporters and those viewing from home didn't recognize what an Irken was. However, there were plenty who remembered the ghost from his attempted blackmail of the world. And none of them more than the wide-eyed Danny.

"Plasmius?! He's involved in this?!"

The senior members of the League finally started paying attention to their other two members. "I take it he's more than just another ghost to you?" Shayera asked.

"He's basically my arch-enemy. He's a half-ghost like me, one with a really bad obsession with my family." Danny explained, his tone an odd mix of shock at such a face from the past's reappearance and a feeling of absolute loathing over all the memories that same face brought back. "No one's seen him since he failed to stop the Disasteroid and flew off into space. …I guess we know what he was doing all that time."

Back at the press conference, another reporter brought up a good question.

"But why come to Earth then? If you knew at least what the Irken was, why not go to their planet?"

It was Dr. Membrane whom spoke up this time. "Because, quite frankly, Irkens are not subtle. If Irk had this kind of technology, the majority of the universe would know about it. Not to mention that _this_ particular Irken…" He pointed at the hologram, his arm shaking with what seemed like barely restrained excitement and pride. "Is not on good terms with the Irken empire…no matter how much he thinks he is…"

"Besides…it was the Voot Runner's exhaust trail that I followed here to your planet." Rilx added on. "My world sent me as an ambassador of sorts. Above all, they wish for me to reclaim what was stolen from us, and to work with any I must to do so. Mocolu sent me because the majority respect my judgment. I admit, I do not wish for Z'ronmeerz's gift to be spread out too far among the stars. Like the gift of fire from your god Prometheus, the power of the Dark Heart, as you call it, can ruin worlds just as easily as save them. It is only because of the multitude of threats that the heroes of your world have beaten back, heroes of a human and non-human origin alike, that I felt you were trustworthy enough to perhaps sample some of the gift as well. If nothing else, I feel certain to find it faster than by hiding among your population in secret."

"So you're saying you're willing to leave some of your world's technology behind for Earth to use?" A reporter asked.

"Possibly. It very much depends on how the search goes and my judgment at the end of the affair. I am certain that if all goes well enough, at the very least my people will be willing to be open partners with Earth. Exchanging goods for protection with your heroes, perhaps. A safety net for Mocolu, so to speak, if we can no longer rely on secrecy to keep us safe."

"Is this something the people of your world have already agreed to?" April O'Neil asked, standing up to be noticed.

"I sent them my location when I arrived within your solar system, along with a message that I was going to be making peaceful contact with your planet, and that I was willing to use exchange of knowledge or specific materials as a bargaining chip. Mocolu assured me that they would make no movements without my word. We live within enough of a chaos-filled sector of space. We have no desire to spark any further forms of unnecessary conflict against ourselves."

"Glad to hear it." April said, her face suddenly twisting into such a sinister, toothy grin.

Clark smelled it before anyone even saw it. The sudden sharp burning of air. But unfortunately, he turned too late, as out of April's raised hand fired off an incredible burst of red energy, blasting Rilx Vod right through the chest, to the shock of all including himself.

The hologram sputtered out without the power to keep it going and Rilx fell to the floor and against the wall behind him; the hole through his chest and out his back sparking horribly.

"It might have been better to keep the act going for a little longer," April said, before her eyes closed and her body collapsed to the ground like it'd fainted, leaving behind the one who'd been overshadowing her standing proudly in her place. "But I always did have a preference for which side of the camera I'm on." Vlad Plasmius said with a smile to all present and all those at home.

The tearing of fabric was what sparked Clark to push his cameraman down onto the ground to safety, as Vlad had not been the only plant in the audience. Abandoning their cameras and notepads as they no longer had to play their part, several of the reporters among the crowd suddenly transformed, lengthening legs and thick fur bursting through their clothing as they became an assorted mix of tigers, lions, and panthers. Enough fearsome beasts to get the true reporters around them to scatter at the first roar.

"I love dramatic reveals." Vlad remarked to himself as he watched the cats terrorize the crowd. "Have to remember to thank Mr. Young for the loan."

Looking over, Vlad spotted Dr. Membrane rushing to the fallen Rilx's side. The ghost hadn't expected his blast to kill the cyborg, but it was still quite impressive to see the hole he'd created already starting to fill back in; the Dark Heart cell working quickly to keep him alive.

Still, given Dr. Membrane pulling out the laser rifle hidden under his coat and Rilx's pained groans as he healed, it would seem this was the perfect time to finish off his defenseless target.

His pointy ears hearing the weapon's burr just in time, Vlad quickly turned and threw up a square ecto-shield before his body, just as an impressively impactful energy blast from elsewhere struck it.

"You didn't think we'd leave such a big event unprotected, did you?" Jenny asked the ghost, the robot girl's cannon-arms having more than made her presence known as her long trench coat and hat was thrown away behind her. "You're not the only one who knows how to hide in a crowd."

Vlad was certainly surprised at her presence, if for no other reason than he was perhaps expecting someone else to show up, but his normal calm persona soon came back to the forefront. "No, but apparently I'm the only one who thought to bring backup." He remarked to Jenny as he snapped his gloved fingers, getting the attention of the closest cats. "Attack!"

Still retaining enough of their human minds to understand, the jungle cats obeyed and pounced forward at the robot girl. These particular cannons built into Jenny's body were designed to combat primarily ghosts, but their power output was significant enough to make her put them away and reform her normal arms, having no desire to even accidentally kill anything, be it man or animal.

Still, Jenny was quite far from helpless. Tigers and panthers leapt at her from the front while a lion came at her from behind, with the end result looking like they were hugging her for all the good their assault did. Not a single scratch able to be made across her metal skin and with a few cracked canines for any unfortunate enough to try and penetrate it another way.

Stomach stretching to raise her up just a little extra bit, Jenny's upper body spun like a cyclone, accelerating from 0 to 100 in an instant and throwing all the cats off her and across the room.

"No, we thought of it," Jenny said as she slowly stopped spinning. "I guess I just didn't need it as much as you."

However, Vlad was unworried. "My dear, in the villainous circles, we refer to that little skirmish as "A Distraction"."

Unsure of his meaning, but naturally not liking the sound of it, Jenny primed her weapons again, ready to attack quickly before he'd get a chance to try anything.

But far too late for that, as from behind she was suddenly struck by a massive yellow construct. She'd say it felt like a truck hitting her, but Jenny had endured trucks before. This had a significant amount more force behind it, and despite being so solid, is was also moving around her body and binding her as it smashed her into a wall clear on the other side of the conference.

Forcing herself to look up as much as she could from the pressure of the construct, Jenny was able to see her attacker. He made no efforts to hide himself. Rather, he seemed to enjoy finally making his presence known. Floating beside Plasmius, the man's appearance was an impressive contrast to the ghost's. Magenta colored skin instead of blue, clearly marking him as an alien, or at least non-human, and a tight gold and black uniform instead of Vlad's almost completely white noble wear. In the center of the man's chest, there was a symbol Jenny didn't recognize, but it was the same symbol as on his ring; the same ring that was creating the yellow construct. A Lantern?

Vlad folded his arm with a proud smirk. "HE is my backup, child."

Back on the Watchtower, John Stewart recognized the man on the cameras instantly. "Sinestro!" He said through bared teeth, his fist squeezing itself so tightly he might soon draw blood.

Static had only ever met the villain once, but it was certainly memorable enough to remind him how seriously the threat at the conference just got upped. "Let's get to the transporters! We can still make it before anyone gets-"

Turning around, Static saw that the ghost hero he'd thought he'd been talking to was already well ahead of him, both he and Shayera having taken flight down the halls the moment Vlad appeared onscreen.

"Fair enough." Static shrugged as he pulled out his board from his jacket, putting enough charge into it to make it unfold so that he may leap on and hurry after them.

Green Lantern and Flash hardly needed any instruction to follow, though the latter was stopped before he could start running by Batman grabbing his arm.

"You cannot be serious!" Flash yelled at him, the Lantern already far enough ahead that he didn't even notice the other two had stayed behind.

"You know why." Batman very sternly reminded him, going back to viewing the monitor and activating the commlink in his ear. "Clark? Can you hear me? Are you still there?"

From where he was in the crowd of panicking reporters, it took a great amount of good timing and admitted luck for the good Mr. Kent to use his super-breath to send a few lions tumbling away from the cameramen they'd encircled without drawing attention to himself. "I just need a few seconds away from all these people and feeds and I'll be able to change and help Jenny." He spoke as quietly as he could through his own link.

"No. Reinforcements are on their way. We need your eyes on everything that's happening, especially Rilx."

Flash could only guess how much Superman was biting his tongue and having to hold himself back, especially with his ally being attacked right there in front of him. But if he understood the situation enough to stay when Batman ordered him to, then Clark most certainly did, not that it made it any easier on him.

Though Jenny was thankfully quick to relieve some of that worry, as the rocket-pigtails atop her head transformed to create some odd megaphone-looking contraptions. Pointing their speakers forward, Clark and every cat and dog within the next few miles was given a headache that'd last them for weeks, but the frequency was powerful enough to cause the construct binding her to tremble, shake, and soon be shattered apart like glass, much to its conjuror's impress.

"A sonic projection device?" Sinestro commented to the freed Jenny. "I don't believe I've seen one that could reach so many decibels so quickly since I faced the warlords of the Obsidian Deeps. And to think a machine from Earth would be capable of replicating such a device."

"Yeah, and I've got plenty of other neat hidden tricks too." Jenny remarked as her hair shifted back, just as numerous layers of armor encompassed her fists, tripling her steel mitts in size. Rocket wings jutting out from within her back, Jenny flew straight for him.

"You're going to try and get me to engage in fisticuffs?" Sinestro asked with a good deal of amusement over the idea, simply pointing his ring forward instead and firing at the incoming target.

In truth? No, Jenny had not expected him to. Thus her smirk, and why the compartment within her chest was opening up to reveal another weapon of hers. It greatly resembled a disco ball, there was no other way of describing it, and it fulfilled a very similar purpose, though taken to the tenth degree.

Upon his ring's energy striking the ball, Sinestro's blast entered into it without any harm to Jenny, with the blast then being reflected back out at numerous random angles from within the ball's depths. Truly taken by surprise this time, Sinestro wasted no time avoiding the shrapnel of his own attack, unfortunately leaving himself wide open and allowing Jenny's fist to send him slapping across the ground and into quite a few cats, the force-field surrounding his entire body being the only thing that saved him from any harm too great for him to handle.

"Reflection against a ring-bearer? Quite clever." He complimented his opponent as she was quick to come at him again, wanting to leave him no time to think. At first, it seemed he wasn't able to, raising his hand and blasting at her with his ring exactly as before. And like before, the disco ball caught the attack and scattered it about. However, as when multiple trails of light shot away from Jenny's body, to her great shock they suddenly bent right back at her, striking like snakes at all the other parts of her body. "But not original." Sinestro finished his line as it was Jenny whom was now the one crashing back to earth.

A little shaken from the surprise but none the worse for wear, Jenny got right back up to fight, just in time to stop the twin yellow walls Sinestro sent her way from smashing into her sides with just her hands. His ring crafting another construct with just a thought, a third wall slammed down on her from above, with Jenny catching it by splitting her two arms into four.

"You are quite the impressive machine. I can see why the Cluster deemed you a threat for so long." Sinestro remarked, amazed in spite of himself that she was able to keep pushing back even the ring's power like this. Still, there was much further that could be done. "I believe I read somewhere once that you were designed to have the strength equivalent to a million human males. Is that right?"

"A million and seventy." Jenny corrected him, her arms starting to stretch upwards as she was successfully pushing the walls back.

"My apologies." Sinestro said quite uncaringly. "But I've always been curious…how literal is that? If the average Earthling can lift around, say, 135 pounds, does that mean you can handle around 14 million?" Jenny nearly tripped at the sudden slamming pressure, only stopped from doing so as it was coming at her sides as well as from above. "How about 28 million? 56? How about an even hundred?" He kept going until he could hear Jenny's joints finally start to whine. "Please, do tell when I've found your stress limit."

Vlad took only another few seconds to admire Sinestro's efforts. "As much as I love my colleagues work, I'm afraid we're on something of a timetable here." The ghost said, turning back towards the stage, just in time to see Dr. Membrane finally shoot at him. It was an attack that was in vain, sadly for him, as Vlad simply split himself right down the middle, forming two of himself with the laser passing by harmlessly in the empty space between them. Dr. Membrane was quick to fire again, only to be met by one of the Vlads throwing up a ecto-shield to block the shot, with the other soon after shooting his own beams of energy out from his eyes, blasting apart the rifle and burning the scientist's hand in the process. "You probably would have been better off just picking the alien up and running, you know." The Vlads commented to him simultaneously, as Rilx was still on the ground behind Dr. Membrane, the hole in his chest about halfway through being restored. "It wouldn't have saved you, but you'd at least have been a moving target."

With a smile of their faces, the Vlads held up their glowing red palms to their targets.

"Take your own advice, cheesehead."

The Vlads paused, looking directly down at the floor in befuddlement, where they could have sworn the voice had just come from.

Their red eyes were filled with whiteness as Danny's fists shot up at them from underneath the stage. The force of the impact nearly broke their noses as it sent them up to the ceiling, but their path was intercepted by the former Hawkgirl's mace painfully cracking off on one the Vlads' faces, sending him flying and morphing back into his twin.

Sinestro was quick to turn at the sound of the impact. Good thing too, as he put up his guard against the massive green train barreling right at him, his ring creating a bladed edge around his body to use the train's momentum against itself as it hit him and cut the construct right down the middle.

"The most powerful weapon in the universe and a steam-engine was the best you could come up with?" Sinestro remarked dryly as constructs both yellow and green faded, revealing the only ring-bearer behind it that he knew would come running as soon as he made his appearance public.

Green Lantern simply shook his head, ring still held and primed right at the edge of his fist as he floated. "No, that was just to get your attention."

At that moment, every metal, fold-out chair in the room seemed like it was flying in a storm to attack Sinestro. His body's energy shield kept most of the impacts insignificant, but all that metal quickly became a problem as it clung to him and refused to come off, starting to form a disjointed but still very effective cocoon. The Green Lantern was quick to add his own efforts into the mix, his ring's energy forming the thick emerald outer layer that caused his enemy to greatly resemble a coffin.

For almost a full minute, it seemed like they'd got him.

But the multitude of blazing yellow sawblades tearing their teeth through the various angles of the prison quickly shattered that delusion, with Sinestro himself bursting his way to freedom once it was weak enough.

Certainly having been caught by surprise, Sinestro made John Stewart uneasy when he did not immediately attack again in retaliation. Instead, the red-skinned ring-bear took a calm look over his shoulder, towards the man whom had sent all that metal at him.

"Ah, yes, I remember you. Static, correct?" He recalled the hero's name correctly, a little to Static's amazement. Sinestro even seemed to chuckle for a second over the two jungle cats Static had electrified and stuck to the wall behind him so they wouldn't give away his position when he first arrived. "You seem to have grown a little since our last encounter. At least in terms of power."

"And you seem to have picked up a love for sentai since then. Seriously, what's with the outfit?" Static pointed at the almost bumblebee bright uniform. "Got too tired of people making black and blue jokes around you? Because I've actually got a few I've been working on that I might still use."

A retort came quick to Sinestro's mind, but he let the opportunity go, as behind him he could hear the electronic purr of weapons priming.

"I see. All your attacks were just aiming to break my concentration." He noted aloud as Jenny had her arm-cannons pointed right at his backside, with the robot girl noticeably no longer being crushed under millions of tons of pressure.

Suddenly landing beside his ally after another nasty blow, Vlad shook his head to nurse off his near concussion. "So that's what Nth Metal feels like." He muttered as he stood back up, straightening himself up to regain some of his dignity. "Daniel! My boy! I was hoping I'd see you here." He finally addressed his fellow halfa, in far friendlier tones than Danny's clear expression of loathing was happy with. "Congratulations on your promotion into the literal big leagues. Though I admit I feel bad about the timing. I would have liked to have given you at least a few years of enjoying your new status before we got around to destroying it all."

"He's not lacking confidence. I'll give him that." Shayera remarked, flying down next to John, whom still had his ring up and ready to fire.

"You're outnumbered and outgunned." He made the warning in his tone known as the five heroes had the two villains surrounded on all sides. "I'd suggest you come quietly."

Like Shayera said, if there was one thing the two men from very different worlds had in common, it was confidence, for as they looked around at all they faced, their calm smirks never faded.

"Quite the amusing thing, isn't it, Plasmius?" Sinestro asked.

"Oh, very much, yes." Vlad nodded his head. "It's amazing how such a short statement can have so many wrongs in it."

Without any warning, Vlad suddenly fell through the earth, his intangibility leaving no signs of his path anywhere. Danny nearly dove in after him but Vlad came back to them first, with four copies of himself popping out of the ground to attack the backs of every hero there, save oddly enough for Static.

He was not to be left out of the action for long though. Sinestro's eyes gave a sudden flash of gold, symbolic of the incredible force of will he was summoning from within himself. With a dramatic swipe of his ring hand, the energy brought force created a powerful vortex of rippling wind; a tornado so fast and so blindingly bright Static couldn't even look directly at it as it was set right at him and Jenny, the latter of whom was very much distracted by the Vlad she was fighting.

Throwing his goggles down over his eyes to cut down on the glare at least somewhat, Static used his electricity to grab Jenny by the backside and quickly pull her towards him. She was taken by surprise, certainly, but upon seeing the golden cyclone overtaking right where she'd been fighting, she let it go.

"You got any gizmos that can stop that thing?" Static asked her, partially yelling to make himself heard over the encroaching winds.

"I might have one." Jenny smiled as she planted herself before her teammate, facing the twister head-on. Arms and pigtails transforming like before, her fingers flattened and stretched out, forming two large fans and collapsed slighting into her widening arms, which acted as the funnels. The rotors quickly gaining speed, Jenny intercepted the maelstrom with one of her own, blasting at it with winds clocking in well over Mach 1.

"Not bad." Static complimented as he could actually see the twister being pushed back and losing power.

"Thanks. Red Tornado taught it to me."

For a moment, it seemed like Jenny had done it and blown apart the tornado. But the moment it seemed like it'd dispersed, the golden energy in the air bent back around and threw itself at their sides. Static was quick to blast the bolts before they could strike them, but unfortunately could do little to stop the thick yellow box that slammed itself into the ground from above, trapping them both inside.

Sinestro floated calmly towards them, following the line that connected his ring to the construct, holding his other arm behind his back in a very dignified manner. "Children, your efforts are admirable, certainly. But I am no rookie freshly recruited by the gnomes who call themselves the Guardians of the Universe." He said to them both, the box of light still allowing the three to see each other despite the very solid walls. "I am Sinestro, the greatest Lantern of them all!"

Static's lightning cracked against the walls of the prison but not even a mark was made. Still, he was not the type to just give up without inflicting some kind of damage.

"Greatest Lantern, huh? Funny. I didn't know Sinestro was how you pronounced _Hal Jordan_."

A very noticeable scowl overtook Sinestro's previous smirk. Without another word, the walls of the yellow prison holding the two heroes started to shrink.

"Okay…this was my bad." Static admitted as he soon wasn't even able to stand with the ceiling getting so low.

"It's alright. I thought it was funny." Jenny told him, her much greater strength being put to the test yet again as she did her best to keep the walls from crushing them both.

Green Lantern immediately noticed what was happening but the Vlad clone he fought was not letting him get anywhere near the other villain. And with every one of his attacks passing harmlessly through the ghost, it seemed like he wouldn't be anytime soon.

That is, until the Nth Metal mace came out of nowhere and walloped the clone halfway across the room.

"Danny and I can handle the Vlads." Shayera said as she swooped down past the surprised Lantern, chasing after both that Vlad and the one that'd attacked her. "Go get him!"

He hardly needed her to point. With a bright flash of determined green across his eyes, he was already off.

Sinestro spotted Green Lantern's approach. With a simple thought, the line between his ring and the box severed, though the construct did not fade and still continued to shrink.

"I can keep this creation going for at least a couple of minutes without a direct connection." He explained to his incoming enemy. "Do you think you'll be able to best me in any significant enough way to save them, Stewart?"

John's ring gave a spark from the pure will flowing through it. "I won't even need a full minute."

Both men throwing their arms back as they charged up, they thrust their rings forward as they let their power explode forth, shaking the entire room as the beams of green and yellow grappled each other in the space between them.

* * *

Only a short distance away, another struggle of equal powers was taking place, as Danny spawned off a few copies of himself to do battle with the two and then soon three Vlads he had to contend with.

"My word, you've really gotten quite a bit better since I've been gone." Vlad complimented, one of his clones taking an attack for him by one of the Dannys so that he may speak to the main body. "Though I hope you're not foolish enough to think that I've been slacking off during our time apart."

"No, I see you've taken my advice and fully embraced the whole "Lonely old guy with a cat" thing." Danny quipped as he blasted, his ecto-bolts meeting Vlad's own as the older ghost seemed cautious of relying on his shields too much in this fight. "Where did you even find those things? And what's up with you and Rilx? What's your game here, Plasmius?"

"Let's just say that like you I've stepped into a much bigger world." Vlad said as he grabbed the end of his cape and draped it over himself, seeming to vanish in a twist of smoke. But Danny's Ghost Sense went off as solid breath before his eyes, alerting him just in time to turn and throw up his own ecto-shield to intercept Vlad's glowing red fist. "I could show you the endgame, if you'd like, Daniel. It may have been a number of years but my offer of an apprenticeship still stands."

"You know, I never got to tell you this before, but it's really creepy how much more obsessed with me you seemed to become over my mom."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, waterboy."

* * *

A bit to Static's start, the armor plating of Jenny's backside opened up.

"Static! I need you to give me a boost! The biggest one you can make!"

Surprised at the request but trusting his teammate had a plan, Static nodded, charging up his hands with as much juice as he could gather. With the purple glow zapping against the tight walls of their prison, he forced his hand up and slapped his hand against Jenny's exposed battery, transferring it all to her.

It was a lot more than Jenny had originally expected and thus very difficult to hold in for those first few seconds. But once her arms had transformed into cannons once more, their barrels pressed against the crashing walls, she was free to let it all out.

In an explosion of light bright enough to even overshadow the duel between the two ring-bearers and get their attention, the construct burst open with violent force, shattering to thousands of shards before fading away into the air. The sheer wind from the blast nearly knocked back both Green Lantern and Sinestro, the two men just barely able to stay planted.

Breathing the outside air again, Static could feel instantly that Jenny had freed them. But at a very noticeable cost.

Not all the shrapnel had been from the construct. The bits of metal littering the ground showed what some of the pluming smoke hid. Jenny had just blown her arms off, having sacrificed them as she purposely overloaded her weapons' output.

"Jen! Oh my god, are you okay?!" Static quickly stood up, his mind instantly fearing what his powers might have just done to her.

One of her stumps signaled for him to stay back. "I'm fine! Just stop him!" Jenny yelled, pointing her other stump at Sinestro, thankfully not seeming to be in any real pain despite her condition.

Static hesitated. He'd had partners before but never would he even think of leaving them in such a state of injury. Fortunately or unfortunately, Sinestro made the decision for him.

"I think trying to keep a charge going in space might be a little beyond your sidekick at this time in his life, Stewart." He commented to his enemy. "I suppose we'll have to settle this another time." He added on, before nearly as fast as the light he controlled, Sinestro flew through the ceiling and away towards the sky. The Lantern, however, was in no mood to let this be the end.

"You're not getting away, traitor!" He yelled as he took off after him, the emerald streak quickly starting a chase with the gold before both disappeared from view into the atmosphere.

"I suppose that's my que to wrap things up too." Vlad remarked as his various selves all merged back into his body, seeming not surprised in the least that his backup just suddenly left him all on his own. "But if you are so very interested in what my new friends and I are planning, Daniel, then I'll be sure to leave you with a sizable hint. One to let you and the rest of Earth know how very serious we are."

Vlad's eyes grew with such bright red intensity as he smiled. Following the line of sight, Danny quickly put together that he was looking at Rilx and Dr. Membrane, still on the stage. Flying down, Danny quickly threw up another energy shield to protect the three of them as Vlad's eye beams fired. However, much to Danny's surprise, Vlad had not been aiming at them but rather the wall directly to their backs, carving into it like an engraving with a chisel.

His message for the world burned into the wall, Vlad draped his cape over himself once again and vanished in a twist of air, leaving behind only the sound of his fading laughter.

The sight of the wrecked press conference was not what most would consider a victory. Most especially not the heroes still left at the scene. But with the cats whom had not also escaped still clinging to walls by a static charge, having thankfully failed to successfully maul any of them many shaken reporters, and the intended target of the assassination still alive, being helped back to his feet by Dr. Membrane, it at least was…something.

Shayera, being the most senior member of the League present, save for Clark whom was busy with his cameraman helping April O'Neil remember what had just happened to her, stepped forward to take charge of the situation.

"Are you alright, Mr. Vod?"

Rilx stood a bit straighter, impressing Shayera at how much taller he was even compared to a lot of the many sizable superhumans she personally knew. "I am fine. Alive. In no small thanks to the efforts of your Justice League. Most especially the inorganic." He said, pointing over to Jenny, whom was trying her best to assure a very worried Static that her condition was nothing to fret over, despite how much oil she was leaking onto the floor. "If she would accept it, I would gladly donate some of my components to help repair her. As you can see, while the time varies depending on the complexities, Z'ronmeerz's gift works its miracles even in a life-threatening state." He offered, showing her his chest, not even a burn mark left from where Vlad had blasted him.

Not saying what she truly wanted to, Shayera took a note from Diana's book and continued playing the diplomat. "As much as I'm sure she'd appreciate your gratitude, it'd probably be best that she relies more on her usually repairs until we know more about how compatible your planet's tech is with Earth's."

"Your point is a fair one." Rilx kindly conceded, moving to pick up the end of his long purple cape from the floor. The singed hole in it was the only evidence left that he had been attacked and with a simple press of his hand against the area, the nanobots spread out, closing up the hole and replicating the material to easily repair it. A very impressive sight, given that Shayera was almost positive the cape was real silk and not some odd metal that just looked like it.

* * *

Those looking in from outside found it impressive too, though from the rooftop across the way they could not exactly make that known, nor would they have any intention to.

"Quite the shame about your cats." The woman beside Chase Young commented to him, no longer caring enough to keep spying through that tiny window with her binoculars now that the show was over.

"I can always make more." Chase said with no grief in his words. "Frankly, even given our orders, I had no real desire to step in unless, say, the Bat or the Amazon were to arrive. I've always been curious how well their skills would far against my own. As well as to what kind of beast they'd become when they lost."

"If just for irony's sake, I'd love it if Wonder Princess got turned into a Cheetah." She quipped as she stretched, having been standing in one place for so long and admittedly feeling good to be back in the old black and green again.

Chase lowered his binoculars. "I am somewhat surprised you came back to all this, Shego. Last I had heard, you were happily retired."

The brunette smirked at him but there was a small air of frustration about it. "If by "Happily Retired" you mean letting the government label me as not an active threat while I planned for numerous heists and crimes that always had other villains taking the plunge into it before I had a chance to…then yeah…happily retired." She groaned. "Frankly, as much fun as it's been over the years, I'm just happy someone remembered me outside of Dr. D." She turned to look at the man directly. "What about you? You hate sci-fi and gadgets and working on teams where you're not the leader."

"I don't hate them. I just don't believe on relying on what I can't control." Chase denied with a simple wave of his hand.

"Thus the kitties." Shego remarked with a fun thought occurring to her. "Didn't the ghost boy in their make some kind of crack about Vlad being the lonely old cat guy on our team?" She asked him rhetorically with a chuckle, being one of the few outside of the Xiaolin vs. Heylin world to know that Chase was well older than he looked.

"If you're trying to tease me, you're wasting your time. I love cats." Chase retorted with a smirk and a simple shrug.

"Yeah, I remember. The few times I stayed the night at your place there was always a lion trying to snuggle my feet at the end of the bed. It'd be cute if I didn't remember it used to be a Templar."

"Yes, sadly, some habits die hard for some warriors, even when turned into a beast."

Looking back through her binoculars for a minute and still seeing no change, Shego asked again. "So…what's the real reason you signed on with this little club?"

"Same as you, I suppose." Chase told her with little hesitation. "If our benefactor is being truly honest about the scope of his plans, then there's the fear of missing out, coupled with the fear of being deemed _in the way_."

"Don't think I've ever seen you so cautious before."

"I have confidence in my abilities, but not arrogance over them. And this goes far beyond a few monks and a rancid old bean this time."

"Well…that's certainly what Vlad just showed all of them." Shego remarked, as even from their distance away they could see the attentions of everyone in that room turning to see what the villainous ghost had left behind.

* * *

"That said," Rilx continued speaking to Shayera as he placed the single bit of clothing he had back along his backside. "I suspect you'll have plenty more opportunity to study my race's gift from god. And unfortunately, possibly not from me." He added, as he turned to face the wall.

It was just one simple letter. One simple character.

Burned into the wall was the symbol Omega, from the ancient Greek alphabet. Ten years ago, this letter would have meant very little and have many various bits of speculation over whatever meaning it was trying to get across.

But in today's world, it was the emblem of one everyone on Earth had been forced to learn, though one war or the other.

Clark, from where he stood, could easily see the symbol on the wall. He likely did not realize he'd already snapped his pen between his fingers and was squeezing the ink-stained item into nothingness in his deep seated anger.

"Z'ronmeerz's gift is in the hands of Darkseid." Rilx spoke, sounding close to weeping in horror.

* * *

Whether Vlad had known the cameras were still rolling or whether he even cared, everyone viewing at home saw the same image burned onto that wall, including the two still left aboard the Watchtower.

Batman's mind raced through every step they could take next, but Flash grabbed him by the shoulder and spoke up with the only true option.

"If you don't tell them now, I will." He warned, more serious than Batman had ever seen the speedster.

But it was an ultimatum he could not fault. To keep hiding everything, even in the face of this revelation, could only serve to leave them more open than if there is a compromised hero to be wary of.

"…Call all active Justice Leaguers, including the new." Batman finally gave in, getting a grateful but still worried look from the Flash, as he also knew full well what this would all mean. "They need to know what we're up against."

* * *

 **Mini-Epilogue:**

Blossom sat on the bench only a short distance from the playground, genuinely surprised how used to seeing a giant spider all the children were. But she supposed she and Jeff brought Mimi here often enough. The only screams the many toddlers had were as they chased each other around his massive abdomen and hung playfully off his many branching legs. She could tell by Jeff's face that he felt kind of bad having all the other kids hogging his attention, but Mimi didn't seem to mind, busy just building away in the nearby sandbox.

 _"I would trust the others of the original seven with my life, as I have done many times in past."_

Blossom leaned back tiredly against the bench, closing her eyes as her head tilted back towards the sky. The Martian Manhunter's offer had played itself on a loop in her head ever since he'd made it. Seven of not only the greatest superheroes on Earth but some of the most trusted and with all of the resources at their disposal. It was almost too good to be true, and honestly that was the main thing holding her back. If J'onn and the League were compromised, then this could just be HIM dangling a carrot in front of her face again and trying to get her to jump for his amusement. And even if they weren't…would it even matter? Was it worth exposing Mimi's secret to even more people, people she still barely knew, for a chance that might not even work?

And the people they might bring in to help… Lords of Order and experts of the occult… What might they do if they can't do anything about HIM? Would they really let the daughter of an Underworld Lord continue to roam free on the Earth? Or would they try and take out the problem before it becomes a problem?

Blossom's hands roughly rubbed her tired eyes. _"These all-nighters are killing me."_ Her mind groaned to itself. After falling asleep herself the first time, she'd made an effort of staying awake to watch the entire sessions between Mimi and J'onn. So far, there had been thankfully nothing to cause her any alarm, but with the scare of the Dark Heart out there, she still preferred to be vigilant. _"I should call Buttercup or Bubbles. I'm sure one or both of them would be willing to take my place for at least one night. Bubbles could bring Courage. Jeff and Mimi love him."_

Blossom laid there, just letting herself have a few moments of rest, though still using her super-hearing to stay aware of everything around her, and specifically anything that should alarm her.

However, when the minutes ticked by, it was not a sound that caused her to feel something was off, as the white noise of all the park-goers was actually helping to lull her a bit. Rather, it was a smell, one familiar yet that she couldn't identify right away. Whatever it was, something nearby was drenched in it.

Lifting her head up and using her eyes to follow her nose's direction, Blossom saw to her alarm an elderly balding man in dirty old robes standing right before Mimi at the sandbox.

"It's you…" The old man stuttered, his wide eyes almost in awe of the small and starting to frighten girl. "You're his child…"

A burst of speed and Blossom was there, her feet almost turning the sand to glass as she scooped up Mimi in her arms, stepping between them.

"Who are you?!" Blossom demanded to know, drawing the attention of some of the other parents and children in the park.

The old man did not seem fazed by her yelling. In fact, despite slightly startled by her sudden appearance, his delight only seemed to increase upon seeing Blossom before him. "And you… You're the one who bared her! What secrets you may still have…hidden within you!"

He stumbled forward to try and touch her and Blossom instantly backstepped. He seemed to be just a feeble old man. Not at all a threat to a transhuman like her. But with Mimi right there, Blossom wasn't going to chance anything.

The man, suddenly seeming aware of what he was doing, receded his hand. "I…I am Stanley Dover! A Satanist! A follower!"

"…Wh-…what?"

"I spent years in Star City, trying to make contact with the beast! Trying to make contract with the beast!" He exclaimed to her his story. His body and hands were shaking so much as he spoke. His words were filled with such bizarre pride, with his eyes were just filled with madness. "I tried and tried, but no monsters ever came. But then…but then he did! And I saw him. I SAW HIM! And he told me…what he had created… And I had to see it for myself…" His trembling hand reached out to touch Mimi, his eyes fixated on her like she was the last drop of water on a dried earth.

"Back off!" Blossom's own eyes blazed red, barely keeping the Heat Vision contained behind them as she clutched Mimi even tighter to her body.

And then, that's when it hit her, the Heat Vision sparking the memory to her mind. The smell. It was something she only ever thought of when she was about to use that power, lest she cause far more destruction than intended.

Gasoline.

The lighter was already in his hand. "I am unworthy." Were his last words before he sparked it.

"No, wait-!"

The flames spread across his body in a wave of blue and orange, penetrating deeply through the robes that'd been thoroughly soaked. The former screams of joy and playfulness turned to those of horror, drowning out Stanley Dover's own of agonizing pain.

Too much force would kill him. Not enough wouldn't put the fire out. After a far longer moment than she would have liked, Blossom found the right balance within her lungs and used her super-breath to extinguish the flames, making the flickers fade almost instantly into the winds.

Her breath had carried all the immediate sounds out of the park, leaving that one single moment with deafening, paralyzing silence. When Dover's body hit the floor, that was when the world finally resumed.

Blossom could hear the heartbeat within his chest. The man was still alive…but very much unrecognizable.

She kept Mimi's head faced behind her and wouldn't let her look forward. But from how hard she was clinging to her, Blossom feared her daughter had already seen a great deal.

 **CHAPTER END**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** Funny how a press conference that was supposed to take place in a few days happened almost a year later. Sorry about that. At least I have some Grim Tales: Complex chapters to show for it (a story I last updated, let's see… months ago…). Hopefully I'll be able to pick of the pace a bit now that I'm back in action.

Speaking of action: Villains! Excitement! Exposition on an alien culture! And a couple new faces for the villain's side.

The first being Shego, whom I'm sure some are certainly surprised but not unhappy to see. If she and Chase seem a little familiar with each other, that's because they are, and your first guess as to why is almost certainly the right one.

And the other is Sinestro, the original Yellow Lantern (and sporting his Sinestro Corp uniform, which does actually have an in-story reason for it). Sinestro is one of my favorite DC villains. Luthor is probably number one but Sinestro is easily in the top five. Maybe even top three. With Static and the John Stewart Green Lantern in this story, I couldn't resist, and he does fit the hidden theme that all the main villains have that have joined together, so he still works.

There are still some members whom have not shown their faces yet. One is a big enemy of one of the new League recruits. Another, of course, is big daddy Darkseid. And like with Luthor, I do have a reason that'll be explained in-story why he's back despite he and Luthor seeming to vanish at the end of JLU after being given the Anti-Life Equation.

Also, little bit of background for anyone who is interested, the Stanley Dover character from the mini-epilogue is an actual character from DC Comics, primarily the Green Arrow: Quiver storyline, in which the Green Arrow Oliver Queen had died (long story) and been brought back to life (longer story) but without his soul and was happened upon by Stanley. Stanley, as a genuine Satanist and practicer of the occult, recognized Oliver didn't have his soul and tried to transfer his own into him. He also kept his grandson licked up in his basement and force-fed him the blood of people he murdered, so he seemed appropriate to have a messed up encounter with HIM that would lead him to setting himself on fire in front of Mimi and several other small children.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I actually did enjoy the live-action _Justice League_ movie. It was not as good as it _should_ have been, given it was the first big live action movie of the team, and it most certainly had its flaws, namely Steppenwolf just not being that interesting of a villain. But it still had a lot in it that I liked and I genuinely enjoyed myself. I liked all the main characters and I was especially happy with the stories of Wonder Woman, Superman, and especially Batman, whom I personally think had a great story arc between the two movies. If you feel differently, I certainly understand. This is just how I feel.

Definitely looking forward to _Aquaman_ and _Shazam_ (and on the Marvel side, _Spider-Verse_ and _Avengers 4: Name Pending)._

* * *

 **QTP:** Did the villains just want to kill Rilx or did they have another goal in mind for attacking the press conference? Why are all these villains in League with each other and Darkseid? What will be the fallout of Batman and Flash telling the rest of the team what they know? And what the hell was with the guy lighting himself on fire?!


End file.
